Srom  f ^e  fetfirat)^  of 

(profcBBor  nriffiam  J^^^^E  <Brecn 

Q$equeaf^eb  6g  ^im  fo 
f ^e  fei6rari?  of 

(princeton  C^eofogtcaf  ^eminarg 

BT  761  .S66 

Spring,  Gardiner,  1785-1873 

Good  hope  through  grace 


GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE ; 

OB 

DISTINGUISHING  TRAITS 

OF 

CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER. 


BY  GARDINER  SPRING,  D.  D. 


i]  yao  Kapdla  gov  ova  Ictlv  ev-&ela  humov  tov  Qeov. 


A  NEW  EDITION. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS. 

Introduction 5 

1.  Visible  Morality 9 

2.  Form  of  Religion - 15 

3.  Speculative  Knowledge 25 

4.  Conviction  of  Sin  -  - - - 30 

5.  Confidence  in  Good  Estate 40 

6.  Love  to  God - - 63 

7.  Repentance - 82 

8.  Faith - - 100 

9.  Humility - - - 119 

10.  Self-denial ---  137 

11.  Spirit  of  Prayer - 151 

12.  Love  to  the  Brethren 164 

13.  Non-conformity  to  the  World -  172 

14.  Growth  in  Grace  -  - - 185 

15.  Practical  Obedience 198 

Conclusion -' 212 


INTRODUCTION, 


There  is  a  hope  that  is  as  an  anchor  to  the 
soul ;  and  there  is  a  hope  that  is  as  the  spi- 
der's web.  The  former  is  built  on  the  Eock 
of  ages ;  the  latter  on  the  sand.  The  one 
perisheth  when  God  taketh  away  the  sonl; 
the  other  is  sure  and  steadfast,  entering  into 
that  which  is  within  the  veil. 

The  hope  of  the  Christian  is  founded  on 
evidence.  The  disciple  of  Jesus  is  ready  to 
give  an  answer  to  every  one  that  asketh  him 
a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  him.  He  is 
born  of  the  incorruptible  seed.  His  hope 
maketh  not  ashamed,  because  the  love  of 
God  is  shed  abroad  in  his  heart  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  which  is  given  unto  him. 


6  INTRODUCTION. 

The  hope  of  the  self- deceived  is  founded 
on  presumption.  He  is  ^Tapt  up  in  false 
secuiity.  A  deceived  heart  hath  turned  him 
aside.  There  is  a  lie  in  his  right  hand.  He 
imagines  he  is  right,  while  he  is  fatally 
wrong;  he  hopes  he  is  going  to  heaven, 
while  he  is  in  the  broad  way  to  hell. 

It  is  no  inconsiderable  thing,  therefore,  to 
possess  the  spirit  of  real  rehgion.  Multitudes 
substitute  the  shadow  for  the  substance,  and 
rest  satisfied  with  a  mere  name  to  live.  It  is 
indeed  no  inconsiderable  thing  to  have  ac- 
tually passed  from  death  unto  life.  Multi- 
tudes cherish  the  hope  of  the  di^T.ne  favor, 
who  ^ill  at  last  be  confounded  with  disap- 
pointment, and  sunk  dee^D  in  despair.  Let 
the  reader  therefore  sit  dovm  to  the  follow- 
ing pages  with  this  solemn  question  before 
him :  Am  I  the  friend  of  God,  or  am  I  his 
enemy  ?  It  will  be  too  late  to  put  this  ques- 
tion by  and  by.  Perhaj)s  you  fear  that  you 
are  God's  enemy.  Perhaps  you  hope  you 
are  His  friend.     To  aid  you  in  deciding  this 


INTRODUCTION.  Y 

interesting  point,  is  tlie  design  of  the  follow- 
ing pages.  There  are  some  things  that  are 
neither  for  nor  against  you ;  there  are  others 
that  are  clecisively  in  your  favor.  The  first 
five  Essays  will  exhibit  several  traits  of  char- 
acter that  cannot  be  relied  on  as  conclusive 
evidence  of  genuine  rehgion.  The  last  ten 
will  exhibit  several  that  may  be  rehed  on, 
without  danger  of  deception. 

The  importance  of  the  subject  constrains 
the  Tsaiter  to  use  great  freedom  and  plain- 
ness. The  plainness  which  he  has  used  also 
constrains  him  to  beg  his  readers  to  suspend 
their  decision  of  the  solemn  question  before 
them,  until  they  shaU  have  taken  a  fiiU  view 
of  the  subject.  If  any  thing  should  be  said 
that  wounds  them,  let  them  remember  it  is 
the  "  wound  of  a  friend."  The  honor  of  God, 
the  value  of  the  soul,  the  awful  retributions 
of  eternity,  aU  make  me  more  solicitous  to 
save  you,  than  to  please  you. 

Searcher  of  hearts,  send  out  thy  light  and 
thy  truth,  and  let  them  lead  me.     Discover 


8  INTEODUCTION. 

their  deception  to  the  self-deceived,  and  make 
thy  dear  children  strong  in  the  gi-ace  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus. 

New  York,  October  5,  1813. 


GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE, 


1.  VISIBLE  MORALITY. 

"  Man  looketh  on  the  outward  appearance." 
It  is  not  by  a  few  that  visible  morality  is  view- 
ed as  the  "  narrow  way  which  leadeth  to  life." 
It  would  be  an  impeachment  of  the  under- 
standing of  my  readers,  to  say  that  mere 
morality  is  not  conclusive  evidence  of  Chris- 
tian character,  were  it  not  for  the  multitude 
of  hopes  that  are  built  upon  this  crumbling 
basis.  An  unblemished  moral  character  is 
in  itself  so  amiable,  that  it  not  only  com- 
mands the  respect  and  esteem  of  others,  bu^ 
secures  the  confidence  of  those  who  possess 
it.  If  a  man  is  honest,  industrious,  and  tem- 
perate ;  faithfal  to  his  promises,  and  punctual 
in  his  engagements ;  if  he  possesses  a  friend- 
ly, humane,  kind,  generous,  and  noble  spirit, 
he  views  himself,  and  is  viewed  by  the  world 
1* 


10     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GKACE. 

around  him,  to  be  a  "  good-liearted  man," 
and  in  a  fair  way  to  heaven.  If  he  is  correct 
in  his  external  demeanor;  if  he  avoids  all 
overt  acts  of  immorahty;  if  he  is  innocent 
and  harmless ;  if  his  honor  is  nnsnUied  and 
his  name  without  reproach,  though  he  may 
confess  that  he  is  not  so  good  as  he  should 
be,  yet  he  beheves  he  is  much  better  than  he 
is.  He  sees  nothing  to  shake  his  hopes,  or 
alarm  his  fears.  Look  abroad  into  the  world, 
and  see  the  thousands  that  rest  here  for  eter- 
nity. Melancholy  view!  "The  heart  is" 
indeed  "  deceitful  above  all  things,"  as  well 
as  "  desperately  wicked." 

The  man  who  is  merely  moral  is  a  stranger 
to  the  living  God.  "While  he  sustains  an  un- 
impeachcd  character  in  the  view  of  the  world, 
he  may  neither  beheve  the  principles  of  the 
gospel,  nor  practise  the  duties  of  piety.  He 
may  be  invincibly  averse  to  every  species  of 
immorahty  on  the  one  hand ;  but  he  is  equal- 
ly so  to  the  exactness  and  spiiituahty  of  re- 
Hgion  on  the  other.  The  infinitely  important 
duties  which  he  owes  to  God,  he  keeps  en- 
tirely out  of  sight.  Of  loving  and  serving 
him,  he  Imows  nothing.     Whatever  he  does. 


VISIBLE   MORALITY.  11 

or  whatever  lie  leaves  undone,  he  does  noth- 
ing for  God.  He  may  be  honest  in  his  deal- 
ings with  everybody  except  God.  He  robs 
none  but  God.  He  is  thankless  and  faith- 
less to  none  but  God.  He  speaks  reproach- 
fully of  none  but  God.  A  just  view  of  the 
relation  which  he  bears  to  God  forms  no 
part  of  his  principles,  and  the  duties  which 
result  from  that  relation  form  no  part  of  his 
morality.  He  contents  himself  with  mere 
external  conformity  to  the  duties  of  the  second 
table.  Like  the  young  man  in  the  gospel,  he 
may  not  have  committed  murder,  nor  adul- 
tery, nor  theft,  nor  perjury,  from  his  youth 
up;  while,  hke  him,  he  may  have  laid  up 
treasures  for  himself,  and  not  be  rich  toward 
God.  He  is  earthly  and  sensual,  rather  than 
heavenly  and  spiritual. 

In  the  sight  of  God,  such  a  character  is 
radically  defective.  The  moral  man  is  Hke 
Israel  of  old — an  empty  vine,  because  he 
bringeth  forth  fruit  to  himself.  He  is  no 
better  than  the  unprofitable  servant ;  no  bet- 
ter than  a  cumberer  of  the  ground,  who  will 
at  last  be  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  un- 
quenchable flame. 


12     GOOD  HOPE  THKOUGH  GKACE. 

Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  liowever,  that  no 
man  lias  the  least  claim  to  Cliristian  charac- 
ter who  is  not  what  the  world  styles  a  moral 
man.  Yital  rehgion  is  an  operative  principle. 
The  spirit  of  piety  not  only  lives  in  the  heart, 
but  flows  forth  in  the  life.  "A  good  tree 
cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit."  Whatever 
may  be  the  pretensions  of  an  immoral  man, 
he  is  far  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Still, 
mere  moraUty  falls  far  short  of  the  rehgion 
of  the  cross.  The  grand  defect  is,  mere 
morahty  never  aims  at  the  heart,  and  would 
never  touch  it,  if  it  should.  The  natural 
disjDosition  may  be  very  amiable,  and  the  ex- 
ternal demeanor  very  blameless,  while  the 
"  carnal  mind  is  enmity  against  God."  The 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  requires  men  to  be 
moral ;  and  if  this  were  all  that  it  required, 
the  moral  man  would  be  a  Christian.  But  it 
requires  them  to  be  moral  from  holy  princi- 
ples. The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  requii-es 
men  to  be  honest,  sober,  industrious,  and 
munificent ;  but  it  requires  them  to  be  hon- 
est, sober,  industrious,  and  munificent  fi'om 
evangehcal  motives.  "As  a  man  thinketh 
in  his  heartf  so  is  he."     The  moral  quahty  of 


VISIBLE   MOEALITY.  13 

actions  lies  in  the  disposition  of  heart  with 
which  they  are  performed.  A  man  may  there- 
fore be  very  honest,  very  humane,  and  very 
munificent;  but  if  the  disposition  of  heart 
with  which  the  acts  of  honesty,  humanity, 
and  munificence  are  performed  be  not  such 
as  God  requires  and  approves,  he  has  no  lot 
nor  part  in  the  portion  of  God's  people. 

There  is  a  wide  distinction  betweeii  moral 
virtues  and  Christian  graces.  Christian  graces 
spring  from  Christian  motives,  or  such  mo- 
tives as  are  warranted  by  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
They  regard,  in  the  first  place,  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  interests  of  his  kingdom ;  and 
then  regulate  our  intercourse  with  our  fellow- 
men  according  to  the  principles  of  his  word. 
Moral  virtues  spring  from  selfish  motives. 
They  have  no  regard  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  interests  of  his  kingdom.  They  go 
just  so  far  as  self-interest  leads  the  way,  and 
there  they  stop.  Such  are  the  virtues  of  men 
"dead  in  trespasses  and  sins;"  such  is  the 
morahty  of  "philanthropists;"  such  is  the 
morahty  of  the  heathen  ;  such  is  the  morality 
of  infidels.  Eeader,  look  into  your  Bible. 
Will  such  morality  be  of  any  avail  in  the 


14     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

solemn  hour  that  tries  the  sj^irits  of  men? 
"  To  the  laiv  and  to  tJie  testimony:'''  every  page 
will  flash  conviction  on  the  conscience,  that 
such  spui'ious  morality  is  of  no  account  in 
the  sight  of  God.  I  say,  in  the  sigJit  of  God. 
The  moral  man  has  a  higher  claim  upon  the 
regard  and  confidence  of  his  fellow-men  than 
the  immoral  man.  He  is  a  better  ruler  and 
a  better  subject,  a  better  parent  and  a  better 
child,  a  better  master  and  a  better  servant, 
than  the  immoral  man.  Other  things  being 
equal,  he  is  less  guilty  in  the  sight  of  God 
than  the  immoral  man.  But  after  all,  he 
wants  the  one  thing  needful.  He  is  a  child 
of  Tsnrath.  He  is  "  ^dthout  Christ ;  an  ahen 
from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel ;  a  stranger 
from  the  covenants  of  promise  ;"  and  though 
he  may  cherish  a  delusive  hoi^e,  is  without 
God  in  the  world. 


FOBM   OF   RELIGION.  15 


2.  FORM  OF  RELIGION. 

"Many,"  says  an  old  writer,  "take  the 
press-money  and  wear  the  livery  of  Christ, 
that  never  stand  to  their  colors,  nor  follow 
their  leader."  The  character  of  the  formal- 
ist ranks  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the 
world,  than  the  character  of  the  mere  moral- 
ist. Formalists  advance  a  step  further  than 
visible  morahty,  and  maintain  the  form  of 
religion.  They  are  those  who  are  not  only 
decent  in  their  external  deportment  among 
men,  but  strict  in  the  observance  of  aU  the 
duties  of  piety.  They  put  on  the  appearance 
of  real  rehgion :  but  this  is  not  conclusive 
e"VT.dence  of  their  Christian  character. 

We  read  of  those  who  have  the  form  of 
godliness,  but  who  deny  the  power  thereof. 
Men  may  maintain  the  form  of  godliness 
from  a  variety  of  motives,  none  of  which 
spring  from  the  operation  of  grace  in  the 
heart.  Many  persons  do  it  for  the  sake  of 
reputation.  A  due  regard  to  the  institutions 
of  Christianity  forms  so  essential  a  part  of 


16     GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GKACE. 

the  character  of  the  good  citizen,  that  among 
a  virtuous  people  it  is  difficult  to  secure 
esteem  and  confidence  without  a  becoming 
observance  of  the  external  duties  of  reHgion. 
Such  is  the  homage  which  vice  pays  to  virtue, 
that  in  Christian  communities,  it  is  a  credit- 
able thing  to  put  on  the  appearance  of  reHg- 
ion. To  those  who  regard  the  good  opinion 
of  the  world  around  them,  there  are  not 
wanting  multiphed  motives  to  appear  better 
than  they  really  are. 

No  small  portion  of  those  who  maintain 
the  mere  form  of  rehgion,  do  it  from  the  force 
of  education.  A  religious  education  cannot 
fail  to  have  a  desirable  influence,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degTee,  upon  all,  both  in  restraining 
them  from  the  commission  of  crime,  and  in 
impelling  them  to  the  external  performance 
of  duty.  It  often  does  have  this  influence 
upon  many  during  the  whole  course  of  their 
Hves.  It  is  difficult  to  break  over  the  re- 
straints which  have  been  imposed  by  parental 
instruction  and  example,  without  singular 
boldness  and  the  most  brutish  stupidity. 
Hence  you  find  many  who  persevere  in  the 
usual  forms  of  reHgion  to  the  end  of  life,  who 


FOEM   OF    RELIGION.  It 

give  you  no  satisfactory  reason  to  believe 
tliat  their  hearts  are  right  with  God.  The 
observance  of  the  external  services  of  piety 
has  become  a  habit ;  and  they  walk  the  cus- 
tomary round  of  duties,  because  it  is  a  beaten 
path,  rather  than  because  it  is  a  pleasant  one. 
Perhaps  a  still  greater  number  maintain 
the  appearance  of  godliness  for  the  sake  of 
quieting  the  clamors  of  natural  conscience. 
The  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  has  implant- 
ed a  principle  in  the  human  breast  which  is 
capable  of  discerning  the  immutable  differ- 
ence between  right  and  wrong;  of  giving 
men  a  sense  of  moral  obligation ;  and  of  ap- 
proving what  is  right  and  condemning  what 
is  wrong  in  their  moral  conduct.  There  are 
seasons  when  the  silent  voice  of  that  invisi- 
ble agent  who  is  commissioned  by  God  to 
record  the  sins  of  thought  and  action,  whis- 
pers that  "God  is  angry  with  the  wicked 
every  day."  The  implacable  foe  stings  with 
anguish  and  convulses  with  agony.  In  these 
seasons  of  temorse,  the  carnal  heart  natu- 
rally flees  to  the  covenant  of  w^orks.  When 
the  moral  principle  is  awake,  there  can  be 
nothing  that  looks  hke  a  compromise  betw^een 

Good  Hope.  2 


18     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

the  heart  and  the  conscience,  short  of  a  hfe 
of  external  godliness.  The  conscience  is  so 
seriously  affected  with  divine  truth  as  often, 
and  for  a  length  of  time,  not  to  allow  some  of 
the  worst  of  men  in  the  omission  of  any  of 
the  external  duties  of  religion. 

There  are  also  those  who  maintain  the 
form  of  religion  for  the  sake  of  fostering  the 
persuasion  of  their  own  good  estate.  We 
know  that  "there  is  a  way  which  seemeth 
right  to  a  man,  but  the  end  thereof  are  the 
ways  of  death."  Men  who  are  experimental- 
ly ignorant  of  the  nature  of  real  religion, 
easily  substitute  the  shadow  for  the  sub- 
stance. Externally  the  formaHst  does  not 
differ  from  a  real  saint.  He  performs  all 
those  overt  acts  of  rehgion  which  he  would 
perform  if  he  were  at  heart  a  sincere  follower 
of  Christ.  Hence  the  beauty  of  his  exter- 
nal conduct  induces  him  to  imagine  that  he 
is  so.  Thus  Paul  felt  before  the  law  of  God 
came  home  to  his  conscience,  discovered  his 
guilt,  and  swept  away  his  carnal  hopes.  And 
thus  the  foolish  virgins  felt  till  the  midnight 
cry  was  given.  Behold,  the  bridegi'oom  com- 
eth.    Bather  than  give  up  their  hope,  formal- 


rOEM    or    EELIGION.  19 

ists  continue  to  clierisli  their  deception  by 
substituting  the  appearance  for  the  reahtj, 
till  their  deception,  their  hope,  and  their  irk- 
some forms  vanish  together,  and  leave  them 
amid  the  wailings  of  the  eternal  pit. 

There  are  very  many  who,  from  some  one 
of  these  causes,  or  all  of  them  combined, 
carry  the  form  of  godliness  to  every  possible 
extent,  and  are  still  nothing  more  than  sound- 
ing brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  This  was 
eminently  the  character  of  the  Pharisees. 
They  were  what  their  name  denotes  them  to 
have  been,  separatists,  distinguished  for  their 
rigid  manner  of  Hfe  and  great  pretensions  to 
sanctity.  They  fasted  often,  made  long  pray- 
ers, paid  tithes  with  exactness,  and  distrib- 
uted alms  with  Hberahty.  As  a  badge  of 
distmction,  they  wore  large  rolls  of  parch- 
ment on  their  foreheads  and  T\Tists,  on  which 
were  inscribed  certain  words  of  the  law.  As 
an  exhibition  of  their  ]3urity,  they  never  en- 
tered theu'  houses,  or  sat  down  at  their  tables, 
without  washing  their  hands.  They  would 
not  so  much  as  touch  a  publican,  or  eat  or 
drink  or  pray  with  a  man  that  was  "a  sinner." 
But  all  this  was  corrupted  by  an  evil  heart 


20     GOOD  HOPE  THKOUGH  GEACE. 

of  iiubelief,  and  served  only  to  flatter  their 
pride  and  fill  np  tlie  measure  of  tlieir  iniqui- 
ty. All  tins  was  consistent  with  "shutting 
up  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  and  neither  going 
in  themselves,  nor  suffering  them  that  were 
entering  to  go  in."  All  this  was  denounced 
by  one  woe  after  another,  as  the  hypocrisy 
of  men  who  should  therefore  "receive  the 
greater  damnation." 

We  need  not  go  far  to  look  for  multiplied 
testimony  that  there  are  those  in  this  age  of 
the  church  who,  like  the  Pharisees,  "  out- 
wardly appear  righteous  unto  men,  but  within 
are  full  of  hypocrisy  and  iniquity."  It  is  not 
difficult  "to  make  clean  the  outside  of  the 
cup  and  of  the  platter."  Men  may  read  and 
pray ;  they  may  attend  to  the  duties  of  the 
family  and  the  sanctuary,  and  often  to  those 
of  the  closet ;  they  may  profess  to  be  on  the 
Lord's  side,  give  up  their  children  to  God  in 
baptism,  come  themselves  to  the  sacramen- 
tal table,  and  engage  in  the  solemn  act  of 
commemorating  the  love  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
and  yet  know  no  more  of  real,  vital  piety, 
than  the  prayerless  and  profane.  Especially 
is  this  too  often  true  of  those  who  are  bap- 


FORM   OF   RELIGION.  21 

tized  in  their  infancy,  and  educated  under 
the  care  of  those  churches  who  admit  them 
into  their  communion,  for  no  other  reason 
and  with  no  other  evidence  of  their  good 
estate,  than  that  they  have  received  the  "  in- 
itiating seal  of  the  church."  But  their  con- 
demnation is  as  sure  as  their  guilt  is  great. 
To  look  for  conclusive  evidence  of  Christian 
character  in  the  mere  form  of  Christianity,  is 
to  expect  the  evidence  of  purity  where  there 
is  nothing  but  the  marks  of  pollution.  The 
mere  formahst  is  exceedingly  sinful.  No  man 
has  a  right  to  be  a  formahst,  whether  his 
formality  arises  from  hypocrisy  or  self-decep- 
tion, or  both.  He  has  no  right  to  deceive 
himself,  or  to  deceive  others.  Every  species 
of  mere  formahty  is  viewed  by  God  as  no 
better  than  detestable.  How  did  he  express 
his  displeasure  towards  his  ancient  people 
for  this  sin  !  "  This  ]Deople,"  saith  he,  "  draw- 
eth  nigh  unto  me  with  their  mouth,  and  hon- 
oreth  me  with  their  Hps,  but  their  heart  is 
far  from  me."  God  also  demands  of  his  peo- 
ple, "To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of 
your  sacrifices  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord? 
When  ye  come  to  appear  before  me,  who 


22     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

hatli  required  this  at  your  liauds  to  tread  my 
courts  ?  Bring  no  inore  vain  oblations  ;  in- 
cense is  an  abomination  unto  me ;  the  new 
moons  and  sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assem- 
bhes,  I  cannot  away  with  :  it  is  iniquity ^  even 
the  solemn  meeting."  God  sets  the  guilt  ol 
formalists  in  the  most  striking  light  by  the 
words  of  the  prophet :  "  He  that  Idlleth  an 
ox  is  as  if  he  slew  a  man ;  he  that  sacrificeth 
a  lamb,  as  if  he  cut  off  a  dog's  neck  ;  he  that 
offereth  an  oblation,  as  if  he  offered  s^dne's 
blood;  he  that  burnetii  incense,  as  if  he 
blessed  an  idol."  Kilhng  an  ox  in  sacrifice 
was  required,  but  kilhng  a  man  was  forbid- 
den; sacrificing  a  lamb  was  required,  but 
sacrificing  a  dog  was  forbidden ;  oblations 
were  required,  but  swine's  blood  w^as  forbid- 
den ;  burning  incense  was  required,  but  bless- 
ing or  worshipping  an  idol  forbidden.  Hence, 
so  far  is  the  mere  form  of  devotion  from  be- 
ing either  acceptable  to  God,  or  evidence  of 
our  own  good  estate,  that  it  is  no  better  than 
if  we  slew  a  man  or  worshipped  an  idol. 

Be  not  deceived ;  for  God  is  not  mocked. 
All  are  not  Israel  that  are  of  Israel.  He  is 
not  a  Jew  that  is  one  outwardly.     There  are 


FORM   OF   RELIGION.  23 

many  tliat  are  called  by  tlie  name  of  Israel, 
which  swear  by  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 
make  mention  of  the  God  of  Israel ;  but  not 
in  truth,  nor  in  righteousness.  Like  the 
Pharisees,  you  may  pray  long,  and  fast  offc ; 
and  like  them,  you  may  be  "  a  generation  of 
vipers,"  and  never  "  escape  the  damnation  of 
heU." 

"  Their  lifted  eyes  salute  the  skies, 
Their  bended  knees  the  ground ; 
But  God  abhors  the  sacrifice, 
Where  not  the  heart  is  found." 

O  how  often  is  this  picture  presented  in  real 
life !  "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as 
other  men,  or  even  as  this  pubhcan."  "Would 
that  thou  wert  more  hke  him.  Thy  corrupt 
heart  corrupts  all  the  fair  forms  of  thy  devo- 
tion, and  "  thou  art  still  in  the  gaU  of  bitter- 
ness, and  the  bonds  of  iniquity."  The  hope 
of  formahsts  is  the  offspring  of  a  deceived 
and  a  wicked  heart.  It  is  an  affront  to  the 
majesty  of  heaven ;  it  is  a  violation  of  the 
laws  of  his  empire ;  it  gives  the  he  to  the 
author  of  eternal  truth.  Hence  the  state  of 
formahsts  is  full  of  danger.  They  are  singu- 
larly x3rone  to  cherish  their  deception.  "  They 


24     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

are  taken  in  their  own  craftiness."  Tliey 
flatter  tliem selves  in  tlieii-  own  eyes,  till 
their  iniquity  be  found  to  be  hateful.  They 
rest  in  a  hope  that  will  at  last  "  bite  Hke  a 
serpent,  and  sting  like  an  adder." 


SPECULATIVE   KNOWLEDGE.  25 


'   3.  SPECULA^TIYE  KNOAVLEDGE. 

Speculative  knowledge  is  no  less  deficient 
in  the  testimony  which  it  bears  to  Christian 
character,  than  visible  morality  or  the  form 
of  rehgion.     Neither  is  conclusive. 

Speculative  knowledge  is  by  no  means  to 
be  undervalued.  Ignorance,  in  most  cases, 
is  far  from  being  venial ;  error  is  always  more 
or  less  sinful.  It  is  of  serious  importance 
that  the  opinions  of  men  be  formed,  and 
formed  upon  the  principles  of  the  unerring 
standard.  There  can  be  no  spiritual  know- 
ledge where  there  is  no  speculative  know- 
ledge. God  cannot  be  loved  where  he  is  not 
known ;  sin  cannot  be  detested  where  its  na- 
ture is  not  discerned;  Christ  cannot  be  con- 
fided in  when  his  character  and  sacrifices  are 
not  perceived;  duty  cannot  be  performed 
where  the  mind  does  not  apprehend  its  na- 
ture and  obligations.  Truth  is  the  natural 
ahment  of  all  gracious  affections.  But 
though  there  can  be  no  spiritual  knowledge 
where  there  is  no  speculative  knowledge,  there 
may  be  much  speculative  knowledge  where 
2 


20     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

there  is  no  spiritual  knowledge.  Tlioiigh  tlie 
want  of  speculative  knowledge  may  be  deci- 
sively against  yon,  the  possession  of  it  is  not 
necessarily  in  your  favor. 

We  have  only  to  open  our  eyes  to  discern 
the  fact  that  very  wicked  men  are  sometimes 
orthodox  in  their  sentiments.  Wicked  men 
as  well  as  good  men  are  endowed  with  per- 
ception, reason,  and  conscience.  And  they 
are  as  capable  of  applying  these  faculties  in 
reflecting  upon  moral  objects  as  upon  natu- 
ral objects.  They  are  not  only  capable  of 
understanding  the  truth,  but  often  do  under- 
stand it  with  accuracy.  How  many  have 
you  seen  who  were  thoroughly  versed  in  the 
Scriptures ;  who  had  correct  theoretical  views 
of  the  character  of  God,  the  character  of  man, 
the  character  and  offices  of  Christ,  of  the 
necessity,  nature,  and  cause  of  regeneration  ; 
who  comprehended  a  connected  system  of 
theology,  and  were  distinguished  champions 
for  the  faith ;  who  were,  notwithstanding  all 
this,  strangers  to  the  religion  of  the  heart. 
"  Thou  behevest  there  is  one  God :  thou  doest 
well.  The  devils  also  believe  and  tremble." 
Satan  himself  was  once  an  angel  of  light. 


SPECULATIVE    KNOWLEDGE.  21 

There  is  no  more  studious  observer  of  the 
character  and  designs  of  God  than  the  great 
adversary  of  both.  There  is  no  greater  profi- 
cient in  theological  truth  than  i\iQ  father  of  lies. 
"There  is  no  want  of  orthodoxy  even  in  hell." 
For  the  existence  of  this  fact  we  are  not  at 
a  loss  for  satisfactory  reasons.  Speculative 
knowledge  has  its  seat  in  the  head ;  vital  re- 
ligion, in  the  heart.  There  is  no  moral  good- 
ness in  the  simple  assent  of  the  understand- 
ing to  truth.  We  receive  and  compound  and 
compare  ideas,  whether  we  wish  to  do  it  or 
not.  Wlien  we  see  the  evidence  of  a  propo- 
sition to  be  clear,  we  cannot  withhold  our 
assent  to  it,  while  we  may  hate  the  truth  we 
receive,  and  love  the  error  we  reject.  Be- 
sides, there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  spec- 
ulative knowledge  to  produce  holy  affection. 
The  twiUght  of  reason  and  conscience,  and 
the  clear  sunshine  of  the  gospel,  are  in  them- 
selves ahke  unadapted  to  the  causation  of 
hohness.  All  the  light  of  eternity  breaking 
in  upon  the  understanding  of  the  natural  man 
cannot  create  one  spark  of  holy  love.  You 
may  follow  the  natural  man  through  every 
possible  degTee  of  instruction ;  and  though  his 


28     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

head  will  be  better,  his  heart  will  be  worse. 
It  is  irrational  to  snj^pose  that  a  dear  vieiv  of 
an  object  that  is  hated  will  produce  love  to 
the  object.  If,  when  the  character  and  truth 
of  God  are  partially  seen^  they  are  the  ob- 
jects of  hatred,  when  clearly  seen  they  will 
become  the  objects  of  malignity.  The  un- 
derstanding therefore  may  be  enhghtened, 
while  the  heart  remains  perfectly  vitiated. 

Far  be  it  from  us,  by  these  remarks,  to 
exclude  from  our  theology  the  doctrine  of 
divine  illumination.  The  scrij^tural  view  of 
this  doctrine  will  go  far  towards  enabling  us 
to  distinguish  between  those  w^ho  in  truth 
know  God,  and  those  who  glorify  him  not  as 
God.  In  this  great  work,  the  heart,  the 
moral  disposition,  is  changed,  and  not  the 
head.  Without  this  sj)iritual  illumination, 
the  soul  ^ill  be  for  ever  shrouded  in  dark- 
ness that  may  be  felt.  The  souls  of  the  sanc- 
tified had  for  ever  remained  "  without  form, 
and  void,"  totally  disordered,  a  mere  moral 
chaos,  merged  in  shades  of  thickest  dark- 
ness, had  not  that  "God  who  commanded 
the  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  shincd 
into  their  hearts  to  give  the  light  of  the  know- 


SPECULATIVE    KNOWLEDGE.  29 

ledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  is  a  kind  of  knowledge,  how- 
ever, which  is  far  above  mere  intellectual 
speculation.  It  is  not  immediately  the  ob- 
ject of  intellectual  speculation,  but  of  gra- 
cious affections.  This  is  a  kind  of  knowledge 
which  is  both  of  divine  original  and  divine 
nature.  This  is  the  knowledge  that  edifieth; 
all  other  puffeth  up.  The  essential  differ- 
ence between  that  knowledge  which  is,  and 
that  which  is  not  conclusive  evidence  of  Chris- 
tian character,  hes  in  this :  the  object  of  the 
one  is  the  agreement  of  the  several  parts  of 
a  theological  proposition;  the  object  of  the 
other  is  moral  beauty,  the  intrinsic  loveliness 
of  God  and  divine  things.  The  sinner  sees 
and  hates ;  the  saint  sees  and  loves.  The 
prophecy  of  Esaias  is  fulfilled  in  the  experi- 
ence of  thousands:  "Hearing  they  shall  hear, 
and  not  understand;  and  seeing  they  shall 
see,  and  not  perceive."  Something  more  is 
necessary  to  make  a  man  a  Christian  besides 
the  enlightening  of  the  natural  understand- 
ing. Beware  of  the  hope  that  is  built  on  no 
firmer  basis  than  a  speculative  view  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  gospel. 


30     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 


4.  CONVICTION  OF  SIN. 

It  is  not  strange  that  natural  men  slionid 
sometimes  be  alarmed  by  a  sense  of  their 
danger.  When  they  see  that  the  judgments 
which  God  has  denounced  against  sin  will 
sooner  or  later  overtake  them,  that  they  are 
rapidly  passing  to  the  gates  of  death,  and 
that  they  are  unprepared  for  the  solemn  real- 
ities of  the  fiiture  world,  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  remain  immoved.  They  begin  to 
think  seriously  of  the  things  that  belong  to 
their  everlasting  peace.  They  cease  to  make 
hght  of  that  which  is  important,  and  to  view 
as  important  that  which  is  lighter  than  van- 
ity. They  begin  to  see  things  as  they  are. 
The  value  of  the  soul,  the  indispensable  ne- 
cessity of  an  interest  in  the  blood  of  sprink- 
ling, heaven,  heU — these  are  subjects  which 
engage  their  most  serious  reflection,  and  ex- 
cite the  most  fearful  alarm.  But  strange  to 
ttill,  how  soon  does  their  solemnity  vanish ; 
how  often  is  their  alarm  momcntar}'.  Tlie 
lapse  even  of  a  few  weeks  ma}'  convince  you 


CONVICTION    OF    SIN.  31 

that  all  this  is  but  the  "  morning  cloud,  and 
as  the  early  dew  that  passeth  away." 

A  variety  of  considerations  induce  us  to 
believe  that  no  degi-ee  of  conviction  for  sin 
is  conclusive  evidence  of  Christian  character. 
The  simple  conviction  that  I  am  a  sinner  is 
common  to  all  men.  That  view  of  sin  which 
arises  from  its  hateful  nature  as  committed 
against  the  holy  God,  is  pecuHar  to  saints. 
There  is  a  state  of  mind  differing  from  both 
these — from  the  former  in  degTee,  and  from 
the  latter  in  kind — which  is  designated  by 
the  phrase,  conviction  for  sin. 

Impenitent  sinners  are  often  brought  to 
see  their  own  sinfulness.  God  gives  them  a 
just  view  of  their  character.  They  are  favor- 
ed v/ith  a  discovery  of  the  total  corruption  of 
their  hearts.  They  see  that  they  have  not 
the  love  of  God  in  them.  They  are  made 
sensible  that  they  are  under  the  dominion  of 
the  "carnal  mind  that  is  enmity  against  God." 
The  divine  law,  in  all  the  reasonableness  of 
its  precept  and  all  the  equity  of  its  sanction, 
comes  home  to  the  conscience  with  power, 
and  brings  with  it  the  knowledge  of  sin  and 
the  sense  of  guilt.     They  see  its  extent  and 


32     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

spirituality,  as  well  as  its  righteousness. 
They  feel  as  Paul  felt :  when  the  command- 
ment came,  sin  revived,  and  he  died.  Sin 
does  actually  revive.  The  law  that  binds 
theii'  conscience  excites  the  enmity  of  their 
hearts.  The  more  clearly  they  discern  its 
righteousness  and  sj)ii'ituality,  the  more  vig- 
orously do  they  hate  its  divine  author.  They 
begin  to  learn  what  kind  of  hearts  they  cher- 
ish. They  see  that  in  them  there  "  dwelleth 
no  good  thing."  In  vain  do  they  search  for 
the  least  hohness  or  a  single  duty  in  all  that 
they  have  done.  "  Every  imagination  of  the 
thoughts  of  their  hearts  is  only  evil  continu- 
ally." All  their  words  and  all  their  actions, 
all  their  desires  and  all  their  prayers  are  in 
direct  contrariety  to  the  holy  law  of  God. 
Now  suffer  me  to  ask,  is  there  any  religion 
in  all  this?  There  can  be  none  surely  in 
possessing  a  de]3raved  heart,  and  there  is 
none  in  merely  being  sensible  that  we  pos- 
sess it.  In  the  simple  discovery  that  I  am 
an  atrocious  sinner,  there  is  no  sense  of  the 
hateful  nature  of  sin,  no  sorrow  for  sin,  no 
desire  to  be  delivered  from  its  power.  To 
see  my  aggravated   sinfulness,  and  not  be 


CONVICTION   OF    SIN.  33 

humbled  on  accoimt  of  it,  is  evidence  of  im- 
yielding  enmity,  rather  than  a  cordial  recon- 
ciliation. If  a  strong  sense,  or  if  you  please, 
the  strongest  sense  of  personal  sinfulness, 
were  conclusive  evidence  of  personal  rehg- 
ion,  every  reprobate  at  the  bar  of  judgment, 
and  all  the  damned  in  hell,  would  be  Chris- 
tians. A  sense  of  their  corruption  forms  no 
small  part  of  their  wretchedness.  We  know, 
from  the  unequivocal  declaration  of  eternal 
truth,  that  when  "the  Lord  cometh  with  ten 
thousand  of  his  saints  to  execute  judgment 
upon  all,"  he  v.dil  "  convince  all  tliat  are  un- 
godly among  them  of  all  their  ungodly  deeds 
which  they  have  ungodly  committed."  How 
then  can  the  conviction  of  ungodliness  be  the 
evidence  of  godliness  ? 

In  the  minds  of  the  unregenerate  the  sense 
of  personal  sinfulness  is  always  accompanied 
with  the  apprehension  of  danger.  It  cannot 
be  otherwise.  Wlien  a  sense  of  sin  is  fasten- 
ed upon  the  conscience  of  the  sinner,  it  can- 
not fail  to  throw  him  into  distress.  In  many 
cases  the  distress  is  great.  The  "law  work" 
is  severe.  The  unhappy  man  sees  the  cor- 
ruption of  his  own  heart,  and  therefore  gives 


34     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

up  all  hope  from  liis  o^ti  rigliteoiisness.  Ho 
sees  the  corruption  of  his  own  heart,  and 
therefore  gives  up  all  hope  from  the  prospect 
of  amendment.  The  law  which  he  has  broken 
sweeps  away  at  a  stroke  all  his  righteous- 
ness, and  cuts  up  his  hopes  root  and  branch. 
All  that  is  past  is  bad ;  all  that  is  to  come  is 
no  better.  He  sees  that  with  his  present  dis- 
position sin  will  only  revive  and  increase  ev- 
ery hour  that  he  lives.  He  is  wretched  and 
forlorn.  He  knows  that  he  is  the  prisoner  of 
justice,  and  fears  that  he  is  akeady  bound 
over  to  the  curse.  He  looks  around  for  help, 
but  no  kind  arm  will  interpose.  He  ventures 
to  make  a  struggle  to  shake  off  his  bondage, 
but  every  effort  evinces  his  weakness,  every 
struggle  binds  him  faster  in  his  chains.  "  The 
arrows  of  the  Almighty  are  within  him,  the 
poison  whereof  drinketh  up  his  spirits."  He 
sees  that  he  is  actually  going  to  hell.  He 
knows  that  nothing  he  shall  ever  do  will  pre- 
vent his  going  there.  There  is  but  a  step 
between  him  and  the  eternal  pit,  while  an 
invincibly  obstinate  heart  cuts  him  off  from 
every  successful  effort  to  escape  it.  He  is 
beyond  the  reach  of  help  on  this  side  heaven. 


CONVICTION   OF    SIN.  35 

No  means,  no  motives  can  afford  him  relief. 
He  sees  that  he  is  in  the  hands  of  a  sove- 
reign God,  and  that  every  thing  without  him 
and  every  thing  within  him  is  conspiring  to 
increase  his  guilt  and  aggravate  his  condem- 
nation. And  you  will  now  ask.  Is  there  no 
religion  in  this  ?  None.  Does  vital  religion 
consist  in  the  apprehension  of  danger,  or  in 
the  fear  that  we  shall  never  escape  it?  Where 
is  the  Jioliness  of  being  afraid  of  hell?  ^Tiat 
Christ-like  affection  is  there  either  in  the  hor- 
ror of  a  guilty  conscience,  or  the  anticipation 
of  the  wrath  to  come  ?  "  These  are  feeUngs 
which,"  as  the  learned  Dr.  Owen  well  re- 
marks, "belong  not  to  the  precept  of  the 
law,  but  to  its  curse;  they  are  no  part  of 
what  it  requires,  but  of  what  it  inflicts." 

In  the  mind  of  a  convinced  sinner,  ^the 
sense  of  personal  smfulness  is  also  connected 
with  the  sense  of  ill  desert.  When  a  man 
has  a  clear  view  of  his  own  sinfulness,  he  not 
only  sees  that  he  is  exposed  to  the  wrath  of 
God,  but  that  he  is  justly  exposed  to  the 
wrath  of  God.  He  sees  that  he  deserves  the 
displeasure  of  the  Almighty  throughout  in- 
terminable ages.     He  is  stripped  of  all  his 


3G     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

thin  excuses,  and  is  sensible  that  his  sins  are 
wholly  nnjustifiable.  As  he  has  before  beeu 
constrained  to  acknowledge  the  reasonable- 
ness of  the  precept  of  the  divine  law,  now  he 
is  constrained  to  admit  the  justice  of  its  pen- 
alty. He  has  Yoluntarily  and  perseveringiy 
disobeyed  a  law  that  is  perfectly  holy  in 
itself,  and  clothed  with  the  authority  of  the 
holy  Grod;  and  he  knows  that  it  would  be 
just,  if  the  penalty  should  be  executed  upon 
him  to  the  uttermost.  He  knows  that  the 
holy  God,  whose  character  he  regards  mth 
enmity,  whose  law  he  transgresses  mth  im- 
penitence, whose  gospel  he  rejects  with  dis- 
dain, can  })e  under  no  obligation  to  save  a 
"S\Tetch  hke  him.  And  you  will  ask  again.  Is 
there  no  rehgion  in  this?  Again  I  answer, 
and  the  reply  is  bottomed  upon  the  word  of 
eternal  truth,  not  a  icldt.  Is  this  no  evidence 
that  I  have  passed  from  death  unto  life  ?  I 
answer,  it  is  not  conclusive  evidence ;  and  if 
this  is  all  that  you  have  experienced,  it  is 
none  at  aU.  If  3'ou  are  not  sensible  that  you 
are  so  vile  as  to  deserve  the  everlasting  dis- 
pleasiu'c  of  God,  you  are  not  even  a  con- 
vinced sinner  ;  but  if  you  are  sensible  of  this, 


CONVICTION   OF   SIN.  37 

yoii  may  not  be  a  converted  sinner.  Yital 
religion  does  not  consist  in  tlie  approbation 
of  the  conscience  to  tlie  condemning  sentence 
of  the  law.  Does  not  the  conscience  of  every 
sinner,  whether  renewed  or  unrenewed,  tell 
him  that  God  would  be  just  in  abandoning 
him  to  misery  without  measure  and  without 
end?  Do  not  the  damned  in  hell  feel  that 
they  are  justly  condemned?  Was  not  the 
man  without  the  wedding  garment  speech- 
less? Will  not  the  whole  world  become 
guilty  before  God,  at  the  last  day  ? 

If  the  view  which  we  have  given  of  this 
solemn  subject  will  bear  the  test  of  God's 
word,  then  the  reader  has  a  right  to  the  j)lain 
result,  that  no  degTee  of  conviction  for  sin  is 
conclusive  evidence  of  Chiistian  character. 
Look  at  the  feelings  of  a  convinced  sinner, 
and  find,  if  you  can,  one  spark  of  genuine 
holiness ;  find,  if  you  can,  one  Christian 
grace ;  find,  if  you  can,  any  thing  more  than 
all  those  have  felt  who  have  gone  down  to 
the  pit  in  their  blood. 

But  may  not  these  be  the  feehngs  of  real 
Christians  ?  I  answer,  they  may  be ;  but 
they  are  not  the  feelings  which  constitute 


38     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

the  essential  difference  between  real  Chris- 
tians and  impenitent  sinners.  All  that  have 
passed  from  death  unto  life  have,  in  a  greater 
or  less  degree,  been  convinced  of  their  total 
corruption,  alarmed  at  their  danger,  and 
made  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  God  in 
the  penalty  of  his  law.  Indeed  it  may  be 
said,  that  the  gTeater  part  of  real  Christians 
have  never  been  the  subjects  of  conviction, 
in  the  degree  which  has  been  here  exhibited. 
Still,  every  Christian  has  experienced  some 
of  it ;  every  Christian  has  felt  the  same  con- 
^dction  in  kind.  If  therefore  you  are  with- 
out any  thing  Hke  this  conviction,  you  may 
be  sure  that  you  are  without  religion.  Still, 
it  does  not  follow,  that  because  you  have  this 
conviction,  you  therefore  have  real  rehgion. 
It  is  true,  that  in  the  coui'se  of  God's  provi- 
dence, conviction  always  precedes  conver- 
sion ;  l)ut  it  is  not  always  true,  that  conver- 
sion follows  conviction.  There  is  no  nec- 
essary connection  between  conviction  and 
conversion.  A  sense  of  sin  and  danger  does 
not  slay  the  enmity  of  the  heart.  The  con- 
science may  be  con^inced,  while  the  heart 
is  not  renewed.     The  carnal  mind  not  only 


CONVICTION    OF    SIN.  3& 

may,  but  does  hate  what  the  awakened  con- 
science approves.  It  is  no  certain  evidence, 
that  because  the  conscience  feels  the  weight 
of  sin,  the  heart  is  humbled  on  account  of  it ; 
that  because  the  conscience  approves  of  the 
rectitude  of  divine  justice,  the  heart  bows  to 
the  divine  sovereignty.  The  most  powerful 
conviction  of  sin,  therefore,  is  not  conclusive 
evidence  of  Christian  character. 


40     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 


5.  CONFIDENCE  IN  GOOD  ESTATE. 

It  is  easy  for  a  hj^Docrite  to  deceive  liim- 
self  with  "false  liojDes  and  carnal  presump- 
tions." Yon  may  be  strongly  persuaded  that 
yon  are  a  Christian  ;  bnt  this  persuasion  does 
not  make  yon  so.  Yon  may  cherish  the  most 
unwavering  confidence  of  your  personal  in- 
terest in  the  great  salvation,  while  you  have 
no  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter. 

The  confidence  of  a  man's  own  good  estate 
is  attained  in  different  ways.  Both  the  con- 
fidence itself  and  the  mode  of  attaining  it  are 
often  scrij)tural.  A  man  may  be  persuaded 
that  he  is  a  Christian,  because  he  has  reason 
to  believe  that  he  possesses  the  Spirit  of 
Christ.  "  Hereby  know  we,  that  we  dweU  in 
him,  and  he  in  us,  because  he  hath  given  us 
of  his  Spirit."  A  man  may  be  persuaded 
that  he  is  a  child  of  God,  because  he  discerns 
in  himself  those  graces  that  are  peculiar  to 
the  childlike  character.  He  may  have  "re- 
ceived the  spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  he 
cries,  Abba,  Father."      "The  Spirit  itself," 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  41 

saith  tlie  apostle,  "  beareth  witness  with  our 
spirit,  that  we  are  the  children  of  God."  A 
persuasion  arising  from  such  evidence  is 
well  grounded.  Such  a  persuasion  cannot 
be  too  confident.  It  not  only  may,  but  ought 
to  rise  to  the  full  assurance  of  hope.  It  did 
in  Job.  "I  know,"  saith  he,  "that  my  Ee- 
deemer  Hveth;  and  though  after  my  skin 
worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh 
shall  I  see  God ;  whom  I  shall  see  for  my- 
self, and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not 
another."  It  did  in  the  Psalmist :  "As  for 
me,  I  wiU  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness ; 
I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  like- 
ness." -  "Thou  shalt  guide  me  with  thy  coun- 
sel, and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory."  It 
did  in  the  apostle :  "  I  am  persuaded,  that 
neither  death,  nor  Hfe,  nor  angels,  nor  prin- 
cipahties,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate 
us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord."  The  comfortable  assur- 
ance of  believers  enables  them  both  to  glo- 
rify and  enjoy  the  ever-blessed  God.  It  is 
as  honorable  to  God  to  trust  in  his  grace,  as 


42     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

to  submit  to  liis  autliority.  "Wlien  tlie  hopes 
of  believers  are  low  and  languisliing,  tliey 
know  not  how  deep  the  shade  they  cast  on 
the  lustre  of  divine  forgiveness,  how  much 
they  detract  fi'om  the  glory  of  the  cross. 
The  want  of  a  cheerful  hope,  an  humble  re- 
liance on  the  mercy  of  Ood,  cannot  fail  to 
unman  the  most  unwavering  firmness,  and 
unnerve  the  most  vigorous  exertion.  For 
those  who  have  the  witness  of  their  good 
estate  within  them,  to  sink  down  into  a  state 
of  darkness  that  ends  in  the  gloom  of  soh- 
tude  and  inactivity,  is  sin.  Many  a  good 
man,  by  having  unhappily  imbibed  mistaken 
views  of  this  subject,  has  rendered  himself  a 
mere  cipher  in  the  church,  and  a  stumbhng- 
block  to  those  who  are  out  of  it.  Real  Chris- 
tians need  not  be  afraid  to  cherish  the  full 
assurance  of  hope.  There  is  something 
wrong  in  the  state  of  that  soul  that  refuses 
to  be  comforted.  It  is  the  duty  of  believers 
to  make  their  calling  and  election  sure.  As- 
sui'ance  ought  always  to  exist,  and  to  be 
supported  by  corresponding  testimony. 

But  this  is  not  the  vain  confidence  to  which 
I  allude  in  this  essay.     It  bears  no  aUiance 


CONFIDENCE  IN  GOOD  ESTATE.    43 

to  the  presumption  of  the  hypocrite  and  the 
self-deceived.  There  is  a  confidence  which  is 
obtained  without  the  aid  of  God's  Spirit,  and 
cherished  without  the  evidence  of  his  word. 

Some  rest  this  presumption  on  an  unwar- 
rantable notion  which  they  entertain  of  the 
mercy  of  God.  They  are  in  the  habit  of 
viewing  it  as  a  general,  indefinite,  undistin- 
guishing  attribute.  They  imagine  that  be- 
cause God  is  declared  to  be  "  no  respecter  of 
persons,"  he  exercises  his  mercy  indiscrim- 
inately. They  view  him  as  a  being  so  fondly 
attached  to  the  interest  of  his  creatures,  as 
to  pardon  them  without  reference  to  the 
terms  of  the  gospel,  and  save  them  without 
regard  either  to  their  own  moral  character, 
to  the  honor  of  his  law,  or  to  the  well-being 
of  his  kingdom.  They  rely  on  no  promise ; 
they  rest  on  no  covenant !  They  are  satis- 
fied with  the  thought,  that  God  is  merciful ! 
They  rest  on  the  phantom,  "  uncovenanted 
mercy."  Tell  them  that  they  are  sinners, 
and  they  tell  you  that  *'  God  is  not  strict  to 
mark  iniquity."  Tell  them  that  they  have 
incurred  the  penalty  of  a  righteous  law,  and 
deserve  to  die,  and  they  tell  you  that  they 


44     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

Lave  never  "  clone  any  harm ;"  and  if  tliey 
have,  a  merciful  God  will  forgive  them.  God 
is  too  good  to  send  them  to  hell !  It  cannot 
be  that  he  tvoU  cast  them  off  for  ever. 

This  is  the  subterfuge  of  thousands,  the 
miserable  hiding-place  that  must  be  over- 
flowed when  the  billows  of  divine  wrath  beat 
upon  this  falling  world.  It  is  the  fatal  rock 
on  which  thousands  have  spHt.  How  many 
impenitent,  Christless  sinners  liave  rested 
here  for  eternity !  How  many  have  I  seen  on  a 
dying-bed,  who  had  not  a  spark  of  vital  relig- 
ion, who  still  indulged  the  hope  that  God  was 
too  merciful  to  damn  them.  My  heart  bleeds 
when  I  think  of  it.  Why  do  men  forget  that 
God  is  as  just  and  as  holy  as  he  is  gracious  ? 
All  his  perfections  must  be  glorified.  We 
cannot  be  saved  at  the  expense  of  one  of 
them.  God  regards  his  own  glory  and  the 
interests  of  his  kingdom  more  than  every 
thing  else.  To  these  every  thing  must  bow. 
If  he  were  not  too  holy,  too  just,  nay,  too 
good  to  admit  a  totally  depraved*  being  into 
his  Idngdom,  that  kingdom  would  fall.  Un- 
holy men  must  be  excluded  from  heaven 
because  they  arc  not  fit  for  it.     To  exclude 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  45 

them  is  a  part  of  that  beneyolent  design 
which  is  to  make,  on  the  whole,  the  most 
happy  universe.  God  has  the  same  benevo- 
lent motive  for  excluding  the  unholy  from 
the  heavenly  state,  that  he  has  for  admitting 
the  holy.  Yes,  we  hesitate  not  to  say  that 
the  benevolent  God  is  too  good  to  admit  one 
unsanctified  soul  into  the  pure  regions  of  the 
blessed.  He  has  too  great  a  regard  for  the 
honor  of  his  character  and  for  the  excellence 
of  his  law ;  he  loves  the  angelic  host  too  well ; 
he  loves  his  people,  he  loves  his  Son  too  well 
ever  to  permit  the  song  of  the  redeemed  to 
feel  the  jar  of  one  unhallowed  tongue.  The 
very  thought  is  reproachful  to  his  glory.  No 
sin  is  there.  The  light  of  heaven  shall  never 
be  darkened  even  by  the  shadow  of  death. 
The  designs  of  injQnite  benevolence  shall 
never  be  frustrated  by  the  introduction  of 
one  unholy  being  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Where,  O  where  is  the  delusion  of  the  mis- 
erable self-deceiver,  when  justice  exacts  the 
uttermost  farthing ! 

Others  attain  this  persuasion  in  a  manner 
still  different.  They  have  been  taught  that 
mere  reformation  and  morahty  will  not  save 


46     GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

them,  and  they  are  equally  conYinced  that 
the  form  of  religion  will  not  save  them. 
They  see  the  necessity  of  possessing  the  real 
spirit  of  religion,  and  they  begin  to  seek 
after  it  till  they  are  weary  of  the  search. 
They  become  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their 
danger,  convinced  of  their  ill  desert,  and  are 
thrown  into  some  distress  But  at  length, 
through  the  influence  of  their  own  imagina- 
tions or  the  artful  devices  of  the  old  serpent, 
they  are  inspired  with  hope  and  filled  with 
joy  :  some  enrajoturing  vision  has  discovered 
to  their  ^dew  the  Saviour  extended  on  the 
cross  ;  some  fancied  messenger  has  announc- 
ed that  their  sins  are  forgiven,  and  that  God 
is  their  reconciled  Father ;  some  text  of  Scrip- 
ture, unsought,  unexpected,  and  fatally  mis- 
applied, has  whispered  peace  to  the  troubled 
conscience,  and  their  souls  are  filled  with  rap- 
tures of  joy.  They  feel  a  kind  of  spurious 
sorrow  that  they  have  ever  hated  so  gracious 
and  merciful  a  being  as  God.  They  have 
been  abandoned  to  the  delusion  that  their 
opposition  to  so  kind  and  gracious  a  being 
has  been  owing  to  some  misapprehension  of 
his  character.      Once  they  viewed  liim  as  an 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  47 

"  absolute  God,"  as  a  God  wlio  was  angry 
with  the  wicked  and  angry  with  them.  They 
viewed  him  as  their  enemy,  and  dreaded  the 
tokens  of  his  dipleasure.  But  now  they  view 
his  character  in  altogether  a  different  Hght. 
They  are  persuaded  that  he  loves  them ;  they 
are  persuaded  that  he  has  pardoned  their 
sins,  and  that  it  is  his  good  pleasure  to  give 
them  the  kingdom.  Now  all  their  enmity  is 
slain ;  they  feel  reconciled  to  God  because 
they  believe  God  is  reconciled  to  them.  Un- 
der the  influence  of  this  pleasing  deception 
they  now  begin  to  be  happy.  EeKgion  ab- 
sorbs all  their  attention,  and  the  rehgion  of 
the  heart  is  what  they  think  they  admire  and 
love.  They  are  full  of  gratitude^  full  of  peace 
and  joy  in  beheving  that  Christ  died  for  them 
in  particular. 

All  this  is  "rotten  at  the  core."  However 
closely  it  may  resemble  the  holy  gratitude  of 
God's  people,  it  is  but  the  counterfeit  of  that 
heavenly  grace.  It  is  purely  selfish.  It  is 
mere  mercenary  rehgion.  The  Spirit  of  God 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  root  of  it,  nor  the 
law  of  God  with  its  fruits.  There  is  not  per- 
haps any  error  more  common  and  more  fatal 


45     GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

among  the  serious  part  of  mankind  tlian  this. 
This  is  the  yery  religion  that  is  agTeeable  to 
the  feehngs  of  the  carnal  heart.  This  was 
the  religion  of  the  impenitent  Israelites.  At 
the  time  of  their  deliverance  from  the  honse 
of  bondage,  and  in  view  of  the  miracles  both 
of  mercy  and  judgment  which  had  been 
wrought  in  their  behalf,  they  sang  the  mem- 
orable "  Song  of  Moses"  on  the  banks  of  the 
Eed  sea.  But  how  soon  do  you  find  them 
murmuring  at  the  waters  of  Marah  and  in 
the  wilderness  of  Sin.  The  same  scene,  only 
in  more  awful  colors,  was  again  exhibited  at 
the  foot  of  Sinai.  God  appeared  in  all  the 
greatness  of  his  majesty.  "And  when  the 
people  saw  the  thunderings,  and  the  light- 
nings, and  the  noise  of  the  trumpet,  and  the 
mountain  smoking,  they  removed  and  stood 
afar  off.  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Speak 
thou  with  us,  and  we  will  hear ;  but  let  not 
God  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die."  Sad  re- 
verse. Scarcely  forty  days  had  elapsed,  than 
the  very  land  that  just  beheld  Jehovah  de- 
scending in  the  cloud,  and  that  trembled  at 
the  voice  of  his  thunder,  saw  the  golden  calf 
an  idol,  and  heard  the  heathenish  acclama- 


CONFIDENCE   IN   GOOD   ESTATE.  49 

tion,  "These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  that 
brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt." 
The  same  scene,  though  in  more  awful  col- 
ors still,  was  exhibited  in  the  streets  of  Jeru- 
salem. No  sooner  did  the  Jews  behold  the 
miracles  and  share  in  the  favor  of  the  prom- 
ised Messiah,  than  they  overlooked  all  the 
humbhng  circumstances  of  his  birth,  and 
were  anxious  to  make  him  their  king.  They 
followed  him  with  hosannas ;  were  impatient 
to  see  him  enrobed  with  the  badges  of  roy- 
alty and  seated  upon  the  throne  of  David  his 
father.  But  their  attachment  was  soon  ^Dut 
to  a  test  which  discovered  its  selfishness. 
They  early  found  that  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah  was  a  spiritual,  and  not  a  temporal 
kingdom.  They  soon  learned  that  he  was 
not  a  Jew  who  was  one  outwardly ;  and  that 
if  they  would  be  the  subjects  of  his  kingdom, 
they  must  become  new  creatures,  must  reUn- 
quish  their  attachment  to  the  world,  must 
deny  themselves  and  take  up  the  cross, 
must  become  holy  in  heart  and  in  life,  not 
too  proud  to  rehsh  the  hiimbling  rehgion  of 
a  crucified  Saviour,  nor  too  righteous  to  sub- 
mit to  the  righteousness  of  God.   Their  hopes 


50     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

of  indiyidual  grandeur  and  national  glory 
therefore  withered  in  the  bloom.  The  prom- 
ised Messiah  became  the  object  of  neglect 
and  malignity.  No  longer  did  they  follow 
him  Avith  acclamations  of  jDraise,  but  with  the 
hiss  of  derision  and  the  finger  of  scorn.  No 
longer  did  their  zeal  prompt  the  cry,  "Ho- 
sanna  to  the  Son  of  David!"  but  their  disap- 
pointed and  infuriate  selfishness  instigated 
the  mahgnant  shout,  "  Crucify,  crucify !" 
Such  is  the  religion  of  sinners.  "  Sinners," 
saith  the  Sa^dour,  "love  those  who  love 
them."  "Ye  seek  me,"  said  Christ,  "not  be- 
cause ye  saw  the  miracles,  but  because  ye 
did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and  were  filled." 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  or  to  beUeve  that 
all  those  who  inculcate  this  kind  of  religion 
are  to  be  ranked  among  the  hypocrite  and 
the  self-deceived.  We  beheve  many  of  them 
to  be  Christians.  The  religion  which  they 
possess  is  better  than  that  which  they  teach. 
Still  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  those  who 
have  no  other  rehgion,  have  none  at  all  that 
will  stand  the  ordeal  of  the  last  day.  "A 
deceived  heart  hath  turned  them  aside." 

On  what  is  such  rehgion  founded  ?     There 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  51 

is  no  supreme  attachment  to  tlie  excellency 
of  the  divine  character,  to  the  holiness  of  the 
divine  law,  or  to  the  perfection  of  the  divine 
government.  There  is  no  supreme  dehght  in 
the  glory  of  the  gospel  for  its  own  inherent 
excellence.  On  what  then  is  such  religion 
founded?  Simply  on  the  assumption,  alike 
dishonorable  to  God  and  destructive  to  the 
souls  of  men,  that  there  is  and  there  can  be 
no  lovehness  in  the  divine  nature,  no  glory 
in  the  divine  perfections,  but  what  results 
from  God's  particular  love  to  them  and  his 
designs  to  save  them*  A  principle  so  re- 
proachful to  the  character  of  the  Deity,  so 
reproachful  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  so  de- 
structive to  the  souls  of  men,  has  made  many 
a  man  an  enthusiast  and  a  hypocrite,  but 
never  yet  made  one  a  humble  follower  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  After  all  the  glosses  that 
can  be  }3ut  upon  it,  the  amount  of  this  prin- 
ciple is  just  this :  Assure  me  of  my  salvation, 
and  the  God  of  heaven  is  amiable  and  glorious : 
deprive  me  of  my  salvation,  and  lie  is  stri^yped 
of  his  loveliness  and  disrobed  of  his  glory. 
Eeader,  does  this  look  like  taking  your  place 
in  the  dust,  and  exalting  God  on  the  throne? 


52     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

Is  tliis  being  reconciled  to  the  character  of 
God,  or  being  supremely  in  love  mth  yoiu*- 
seH? 

Though  selfish  piety  is  naturally  bhnd  to 
its  own  nature,  yet  the  effect  of  this  merce- 
nary scheme  is  unequivocal.  The  gTand  sen- 
timent of  the  system  is,  that  it  is  a  mark  of 
genuine  holiness  to  be  very  anxious  about 
your  own  welfare,  but  to  care  very  Httle  for 
the  honor  and  glory  of  God.  It  is  therefore 
a  system  that  is  perfectly  compatible  with 
supreme  selfishness,  and  therefore  perfectly 
compatible  with  total  depravity.  There  is 
nothing  in  all  this  with  which  the  carnal 
mind  is  at  enmity.  If  ^dtal  godliness  consist 
in  such  a  system  of  views  and  feelings,  there 
is  no  need  of  a  radical  change  of  heart.  Let 
the  veriest  sinner  on  earth  be  persuaded  that 
God  loved  him  with  an  everlasting  love,  and 
from  eternity  designed  to  make  him  an  heir 
of  the  heavenly  inheritance,  and  his  enmity 
will  subside  without  any  change  of  nature, 
any  alteration  in  the  moral  disposition  of  the 
soul. 

The  presumption  on  which  we  have  been 
animadverting  is  one  which  any  unrenewed 


CONFIDENCE    IN   QOOD   ESTATE.  53 

man  may  clierisli  wlio  is  under  tlie  delusion 
of  Satan. and  liis  own  wicked  heart.  It  is 
easy  to  say,  "Pardon. is  mine,  grace  is  mine, 
Christ  and  all  his  blessings  are  mine ;  God 
has  freely  loved  me,  Christ  has  graciously 
died  for  me,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  will  assur- 
edly sanctify  me  in  the  behef,  the  appropri- 
ating belief  of  these  precious  truths."  It  is 
no  herculean  task  for  a  heated  imagination 
and  an  unsanctified  heart  to  make  these  dis- 
coveries. This  is  a  kind  of  confidence  which 
the  subtle  deceiver  is  interested  to  flatter 
and  strengthen,  till  the  unhappy  subject  has 
lost  his  hold,  and  the  roaring  lion  is  sure  of 
his  prey.  And  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the 
zeal  and  engagedness  which  spring  from  this 
delusion,  form  a  kind  of  religion  which  the 
blindness  and  deceit,  the  self-flattery  and  the 
pride  of  the  carnal  heart  very  easily  substi- 
tute for  vital  godHness. 

Others  attain  the  confidence  of  their  own 
good  estate  in  a  manner  still  different.  This 
mode  of  attainment  is  purely  mechanical. 
According  to  the  views  of  those  who  main- 
tain this  confidence,  it  seems  to  be  "a  strange 
kind  of  assurance,  far  different  from  other 


5-1     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

ordinary  kinds.  "We  are  constrained  to  be- 
lieve other  things  on  the  clear  evidence  that 
they  are  true,  and  wonld  remain  true,  wheth- 
er we  beheve  them  or  no ;  biit  here  onr  assur- 
ance is  not  impressed  on  our  thoughts  by  any 
evidence  of  the  thing,  but  we  must  work  it 
out  in  ourselves,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
Spirit  of  God."  The  very  existence  of  this 
persuasion  seems  to  be  the  sole  evidence  of 
the  truth  of  it ;  and  so  the  proposition  to  be 
believed,  namely,  "that  God  freely  giveth 
Christ  and  his  salvation  to  us  in  particular, 
is  not  true  before  we  believe  it,  but  becometh 
a  certain  truth  when  we  believe  it."" 

The  amount  of  this  is,  that  a  persuasion  of 
your  own  personal  interest  in  the  blessings 
of  the  great  salvation  constitutes  the  essence 
of  evangelical  faith ;  that  if  you  can  only  be- 
lieve that  you  will  be  saved,  you  are  a  believer 
in  the  gospel  sense  of  the  word ;  that  should 
you  find  any  difficulty  in  doing  this,  you  must 
*'  work  it  out  in  yourselves  by  the  assistance 
of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  according  to  your 
faith,  so  shall  it  be  unto  you."t  The  per- 
suasion therefore  that  you  are  a  Christian, 

*  >r:irKliall  on  Sanctification,  p.  157.     f  Ibid,  p.  157. 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  55 

makes  you  so;  and  the  confidence  that  you 
will  be  saved,  renders  "yoiu-  calling  and  elec- 
tion sure." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  guard  the  mind 
against  the  influence  of  this  delusion.  Re- 
flecting men  will  not  rest  the  hope  of  immor- 
taUty  on  so  treacherous  a  foundation,  unless 
they  dehberately  prefer  the  dreams  of  the 
self-deceived  to  the  sober  expectations  of  the 
real  Christian.  If  there  were  no  difference 
between  being  actually  interested  in  the  cov- 
enant of  grace,  and  the  persuasion  of  our 
own  minds  that  we  are  thus  interested,  this 
scheme  might  be  plausible.  Men  must  he 
Christians  before  they  can  be  rationally  per- 
suaded that  they  are  Christians.  They  must 
he  the  children  of  God  before  they  can  ration- 
ally cherish  the  confidence  that  they  are  so. 
It  is  not  impossible,  nor  is  it  an  unusual 
thing,  for  a  man  to  be  a  Christian,  and  yet 
not  to  believe  that  he  is  a  Christian.  Nor  is 
it  less  impossible  and  unusual  for  a  man  to 
believe  that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  yet  not  be 
a  Christian.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  there 
will  be  many  at  the  last  day  who  will  say, 
Lord,  Lord !  unto  whom  the  Bridegroom  wiU 


50     GOOD  HOPE  THUOUGH  GRACE. 

say,  "I  never  knew  jou;  depart  fi-om  me,  all 
ye  workers  of  iniquity."  There  will  be  many 
in  that  day  who  have  confidently  believed 
that  God  freely  gave  Christ  and  his  salvation 
to  them  in  particular,  who  will  not  find  that 
it  became  a  certain  truth  when  they  behev- 
ed  it.  The  error  is  too  pal]3able  to  be  en- 
snaring. 

Let  not  the  import  of  these  remarks  be 
misunderstood.  Far  be  it  from  me  to  dis- 
courage the  followers  of  the  Lord  Jesus  from 
placing  the  most  implicit  rehance  on  the 
"Author  and  Finisher  of  their  faith."  Every 
attribute  of  his  character  demands  confidence 
the  most  prompt  and  unreserved.  But  real 
confidence  in  God  is  a  thing  widely  different 
from  a  firm  persuasion  of  your  personal  in- 
terest in  his  mercy.  The  former  is  your  duty 
at  all  times.  The  latter  is  your  duty  in  the 
same  proportion  in  which  you  have  evidence 
that  the  "  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  your 
heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  You  have  just 
as  much  evidence  that  you  are  interested  in 
his  pardoning  mercy,  as  you  have  that  you 
are  the  subject  of  his  sanctifying  grace.  Sanc- 
tification  is  the  onlv  evidence  of  conversion. 


CONFIDENCE  IN  GOOD  ESTATE.    b1 

Tlie  assurance  of  onr  acceptance  with  God 
depends  on  the  assurance  of  our  possessing 
the  character  of  those  who  are  accepted.  The 
scriptural  mode  of  obtaining  assurance  is  that 
pointed  out  by  the  apostle  :  "  Giving  all  dili- 
gence, add  to  your  faith  virtue  ;  and  to  virtue, 
knowledge ;  and  to  knowledge,  temperance ; 
and  to  temperance,  patience ;  and  to  patience, 
godhness ;  and  to  godliness,  brotherly  kind- 
ness ;  and  to  brotherly  kindness,  charity.  For 
if  these  things  be  in  you  and  abound,  they 
make  you  that  ye  shall  neither  be  barren  nor 
unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  "Wherefore,  brethren,  give  diligence 
to  make  your  calling  and  election  sure ;  for 
if  ye  do  these  things,  ye  shall  never  fall." 
"  The  infallible  assurance  of  faith,"  says  our 
excellent  Confession,  '4s  founded  upon  the 
divine  truth  of  the  promises  of  salvation,  the 
inward  evidence  of  those  graces  unto  which 
these  promises  are  made,  the  testimony  of  the 
Spirit  of  adoption  witnessing  with  our  spirits 
that  we  are  the  children  of  God,  which  Sphit 
is  the  earnest  of  our  inheritance,  whereby 
we  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption."^ 
^  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 


58     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

To  clierisli  tlie  confidence  of  your  otvti  good 
estate  when  your  graces  are  low  and  lan- 
guishing, and  while  you  live  in  the  habits  of 
sin,  savors  more  of  presumption  than  of  hu- 
mility. No  man  ought  to  Hve  without  some 
doubts  of  his  own  good  estate,  who  does  not 
cherish  such  an  abiding  sense  of  divine  truth, 
and  live  in  such  prevaiHng  exercise  of  divine 
grace,  as  to  have  the  witness  within  him  that 
he  is  born  of  God.  It  is  in  the  exercise  of 
grace  alone  that  any  one  ought  to  expect  or 
even  desire  to  find  evidence  of  his  being 
"  accepted  in  the  Beloved."  The  e^ddence  of 
our  good  estate  rises  in  proportion  to  our 
love,  to  our  repentance,  to  our  humility,  to 
our  faith,  to  our  self-denial,  to  our  dehght  in 
duty.  Other  evidence  than  this  the  Bible 
knows  not — God  has  not  given. 

Let  the  reader  beware  of  these  vain  confi- 
dences. When  men  rest  satisfied  with  these 
presumptions,  they  usually  rest  satisfied  until 
it  is  too  late  to  be  dissatisfied.  They  see 
nothing,  either  within  or  without,  to  shake 
their  hopes  or  alarm  their  fears.     Notwith- 

chap.  IS,  pp.  85,  8G.    Vide  also  Larger  Catechism,  pp. 
211,  212. 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  59 

standing  there  is  a  wide  and  essential  differ- 
ence between  these  iinscriptural  confidences 
and  the  faith  of  the  gospel ;  notwithstanding 
they  have  all  the  necessary  means  to  know 
their  true  character,  and  could  not  mistake 
it  if  they  would  examine  impartially;  yet 
they  sport  themselves  with  their  own  deceiv- 
ings,  and  know  not  what  manner  of  persons 
they  are.  You  may  easily  imagine  that  you 
are  safe,  and  while  the  deception  lasts  it  may 
quiet  your  consciences  and  administer  a  short- 
lived consolation.  But  when  the  veil  is  dra^Ti 
aside,  when  the  dreams  of  time  give  way  to 
the  realities  of  eternity,  these  pleasing  decep- 
tions will  vanish.  There  is  less  of  this  vain 
presumption  in  the  hour  of  death  than  in  the 
season  of  health  and  cheerfulness.  There 
will  be  none  of  it  at  the  left  hand  of  the 
Judge ;  there  will  be  none  of  it  in  hell. 

The  reader  has  now  before  him  what  the 
author  designed  to  say  in  the  first  five  essays. 
How  solemnly  do  these  things  call  upon  every 
one  to  see  whether  his  heart  is  right  with 
God.  If  vital  religion  does  not  consist  in 
visible  morahty;  if  it  does  not  consist  in  the 


60     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

form  of  religion,  nor  in  specnlatiye  knowledge, 
nor  in  mere  conviction  for  sin,  nor  in  the  con- 
fidence of  your  own  good  estate,  nor  in  tlie 
whole  routine  of  enthusiastic  experiences 
which  that  confidence  inspires,  nor  in  all 
these  things  combined,  is  it  not  time  to  look 
about  you?  In  all  that  has  hitherto  been 
brought  into  view,  there  is  not  one  holy 
exercise  of  heart,  not  one  feeling  that  is  in 
the  least  at  war  with  supreme  selfishness. 
There  is  not  one  fact  therefore  upon  which 
I  dare  tell  you  that  you  may  rely  for  eter- 
nity, as  conclusive  evidence  of  Christian  char- 
acter. 

How  many  are  there  who  are  almost  Chris- 
tians !  As  then  you  review  the  preceding 
pages,  look  with  ingenuousness  into  your 
OTVTi  heart.  Men  may  think  they  are  Chris- 
tians, and  3'et  be  in  the  "gall  of  bitterness 
and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity."  You  may  be 
almost  saved,  and  yet — perish.  You  may  get 
very  near  to  heaven,  and  yet — go  to  hell. 
You  may  advance  to  the  very  verge  of  the 
better  world,  and  from  the  threshold  of  glory 
fall  into  the  regions  of  mourning. 

It   may  be   that   remarks  like  these  will 


CONFIDENCE    IN    GOOD    ESTATE.  61 

wound  some  of  the  dear  cliildren  of  God, 
while  they  leave  the  stupid  hypocrite  wrapt 
up  in  false  secui^ity,  and  impenetrable  by  any 
thing  but  the  arrows  of  the  Eternal.  If  the 
humble  child  of  Jesus  is  hereby  involved  in 
darkness  for  a  moment,  his  light  shall  soon 
break  forth  as  the  morning.  If  for  a  moment 
his  strength  and  courage  languish,  they  shall 
"  spring  forth  speedily ;  his  righteousness 
shall  go  before  him,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shall  be  his  rearward."  The  hypocrite 
will  in  all  probabiHty  still  cherish  his  decep- 
tion; he  wiU  rest  in  carnal  security  till  the 
awful  moment  when  he  lies  gasping  in  the 
arms  of  death,  and  is  just  about  to  take  his 
flight  to  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  Then 
his  refuges  of  Hes  shall  be  swept  away,  and 
his  fancied  security  will  only  serve  to  render 
him  the  fairer  mark  of  divine  vengeance; 
then  he  will  discover  his  fatal  mistake ;  then 
his  heart  will  tremble;  then  his  hopes  will 
die  within  him :  that  which  has  been  hidden 
shall  be  made  known ;  the  mask  will  be  torn 
off ;  the  secrets  of  the  heart  shall  be  unfold- 
ed; nothing  shall  remain  unveiled.  "There 
will  be  no  darkness  nor   shadow  of  death 


62     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

where  the  workers  of  iniquity  raay  hide 
themselves."  "  The  sinners  in  Zion  shall  be 
afraid;  fearfulness  shall  surprise  the  hypo- 
crites. Who  among  us  shall  dwell  with  de- 
vouring fire?  Who  among  us  shall  dwell 
with  everlasting  burnings?" 


LOVE   TO   GOD.  63 


6.  LOVE  TO  OOD. 

In  tlie  preceding  essays  I  have  exhibited, 
as  I  proposed,  a  variety  of  views,  feelings, 
and  practices  which  cannot  be  rehed  on  with 
safety  as  conclusive  evidence  of  Christian 
character.  In  the  subsequent  ones  I  propose 
to  give  a  brief  view  of  those  which  may  be 
rehed  on  without  the  danger  of  deception. 

It  is  the  excellence  of  the  Christian  relig- 
ion that  it  makes  a  claim  upon  the  affections. 
"  My  son,  give  me  thy  heart."  "  Love  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law."  "Though  I  give  aU 
my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  give  my  body 
to  be  burned,  and  have  not  love,  it  profiteth 
me  nothing." 

At  first  view  there  appears  to  be  some  dif- 
ficulty in  understanding  with  clearness  what 
it  is  to  love  God.  Men  are  in  the  habit  of 
placing  their  affections  upon  beings  that  are 
the  objects  of  sense.  God  is  invisible.  To 
profess  to  love  a  being  that  is  not  percepti- 
ble to  our  senses,  appears  to  some  to  savor 
more  of  the  ignorance  and  wildness  of  enthu- 


64     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GKACE. 

siasm  than  of  tlie  sober  deductions  of  en- 
lightened and  sanctified  reason.  But  though 
no  eye  hath  seen  or  can  see  the  infinite  and 
eternal  Spiiit,  yet  "he  hath  not  left  himself 
without  witness."  There  is  a  power  in  the 
human  mind  which  enables  it  to  form  just 
notions  of  persons  and  things  that  cannot  be 
perceived  by  sense.  We  need  no  other  meth- 
od of  ascertaining  the  nature  of  love  to  God 
than  the  nature  of  love  to  man.  The  mode 
of  reflection  is  in  both  cases  the  same.  The 
process  of  compounding,  comparing,  and  ab- 
stracting is  the  same.  Seriously  considered, 
there  is  precisely  the  same  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving of  the  nature  of  love  to  man,  that 
there  is  in  conceiving  of  the  nature  of  love  to 
God.  You  know  what  it  is  to  love  your 
fiiend.  And  yet  it  is  not  the  mere  external 
form;  it  is  not  the  animal,  unanimated  by 
the  living,  acting  spirit,  that  you  love.  But 
this  is  all  that  is  perceptible  to  your  senses. 
You  see  the  motion,  you  hear  the  voice  of 
your  friend;  and  from  the  nature  of  what 
you  see  and  hear,  you  form  the  idea  of  his 
character.  The  soul,  that  which  is  charac- 
teristic both  of  the  man  and  the  friend,  is 


LOVE   TO   GOD.  65 

invisible.  Wliat  you  see  and  hear  is  not  tliat 
which  vou  love,  thoiigh  it  discovers  to  you 
something  which  is  lovely.  That  which  is 
the  object  of  your  senses  suggests  the  exist- 
ence and  character  of  that  invisible,  think- 
ing being  which  is  the  object  of  your  affec- 
tions, and  which  you  either  love  or  hate,  as 
it  pleases  or  displeases  you. 

You  may  as  easily  know  what  it  is  to  love 
God  therefore,  as  you  may  know  what  it  is 
to  love  your  friend.  The  sensible  signs  by 
which  he  has  communicated,  and  is  every 
hour  communicating  his  character,  are  vastly 
more  significant  than*those  which  manifest 
the  character  of  any  other  being  in  the  uni- 
verse. God  is  everywhere.  The  Infinite 
Mind  is  ever  active.  It  is  the  great  agent 
throughout  all  worlds.  "The  heavens  de- 
clare the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament 
showeth  his  handiwork.  Day  unto  day  utter- 
eth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth 
knowledge.  There  is  no  speech  nor  language 
where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  Their  line 
is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their 
words  to  the  end  of  the  world."  God  has 
expressed  his  divine  excellence  in  the  work 

Good  Hope.  5 


G6     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

of  Jiis  liancls,  and  lias  exliibited  the  lustre  of 
his  glory  in  the  word  of  his  truth.  Every 
act  that  he  has  performed,  together  with 
every  word  that  he  has  spoken,  is  an  une- 
quivocal declaration  of  his  character.  It  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  this  character  must  be 
loved  or  hated,  and  that  the  invisible  Being 
which  this  character  unfolds  must  be  the 
object  either  of  complacency  or  aversion,  of 
benevolence  or  malignity. 

Love  to  God  involves  complacency  in  his 
character,  benevolence  towards  his  interest, 
and  gratitude  for  his  favors. 

It  involves  complacency  in  his  character. 
You  see  something  in  the  character  of  your 
fi'iend  which  to  you  appears  pleasing  and 
amiable.  You*  see  something  which  is  love- 
ly; and  this  lovehness  is  the  foundation  of 
your  attachment.  Thus  the  excellence  of 
God  is  the  foundation  of  all  holy  love.  True 
love  to  God  is  a  firm  and  steady  principle, 
which  draws  its  motive  and  its  sanction  from 
his  own  intrinsic  loveliness.  It  is  deUght  in 
his  excellence.  Those  who  have  "  put  on  the 
new  man,  which  after  God  is  created  in  right- 
eousness and  true  holiness,"  love  God  be- 


LOVE   TO    GOD.  6*7 

cause  lie  is  just  such  a  God  as  lie  is ;  because 
liis  power  is  irresistible,  his  wisdom  unerr- 
ing, his  purity  spotless,  his  justice  inflexible, 
his  goodness  universal,  his  grace  infinite,  his 
designs  eternal  and  immutable.  Here  holy 
love  begins. 

"Wicked  men  are  apt  to  consider  God  "al- 
together such  a  one  as  themselves."  They 
clothe  the  divine  Being  with  such  attributes, 
and  such  only,  as  suit  their  depraved  taste; 
and  then  it  is  no  difficult  thing  to  fall  down 
and  worship  him.  But  it  is  not  God  that 
they  worship ;  it  is  not  God  that  they  love. 
It  is  an  image  that  bears  no  resemblance  to 
that  glorious  Being  whom  all  heaven  adores ; 
it  is  a  mere  idol  of  their  own  imagination. 
Genuine  complacency  in  God,  therefore,  is 
dehght  in  his  true  character.  The  love  which 
arises  from  dehght  in  the  character  of  a  false 
god,  is  enmity  towards  the  true  God.  The 
enemies  of  God  may  love  him  for  what  they 
imagine  him  to  be  ;  none  but  the  real  friends 
of  God  love  him  for  what  he  is. 

Supreme  attachment  to  the  character  of 
God  for  his  own  inherent  excellence,  draws 
the   Hne   of  distinction   between    that   love 


68     GOOD  HOPE  THROUaH  GEACE. 

wliicli  is  merely  mercenary  and  that  wliicli  is 
disinterested.  A  man  may  be  supremely  self- 
ish in  the  exercise  of  a  certain  kind  of  love 
to  God.  In  all  his  love  he  may  have  no  nlti- 
mate  regard  except  to  his  own  happiness. 
He  may  delight  in  God  for  what  he  is  to  him, 
while  he  takes  no  delight  in  him  for  what  he 
is  in  himself.  Such  is  not  the  love  of  the 
new-born  soul.  The  enmity  of  his  heart 
towards  God  is  slain.  He  is  reconciled  to 
the  divine  character  as  it  is.  God  is  the  ob- 
ject of  dehghtfid  contemplation  to  his  devout 
mind.  In  his  most  favored  hours  his  views 
are  diverted  from  himself  As  his  eye  glances 
at  the  varied  excellence  of  the  Deity,  he  does 
not  stop  to  ask  the  question  whether  God  is 
a  being  who  will  at  all  events  regard  his  inter- 
est. It  is  enough  for  him  that  He  will  at  all 
events  regard  His  own  glory.  He  beholds  a 
dignity,  a  beauty  in  the  divine  character  that 
fills  his  soul  with  high  devotion.  All  things 
else  are  atoms,  motes,  dust,  and  vanity.  The 
feehngs  of  the  prophet  are  his:  "The  desire 
of  my  soul  is  to  thy  name,  and  to  the  remem- 
brance of  thee."  The  nnchangeableness  of 
the  divine  Being  and  the  perfections  of  the 


LOVE   TO   GOD.  69 

cliyine  nature,  excite  the  noblest  yiews  and 
the  most  raised  affections.  The  language  of 
the  psalmist  is  his  :  "  Whom  have  I  in  heav- 
en but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  on  earth  that 
I  desire  besides  thee."  The  soul  is  satisfied 
with  God's  perfect  excellence,  and  does  not 
cherish  a  wish  that  he  should  be  different 
from  Vv'liat  he  is. 

True  love  to  God  also  imphes  benevolence 
towards  him  and  the  interest  of  his  kingdom. 
In  the  intrinsic  excellence  of  his  character, 
God  is  the  "  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for 
ever."  The  fulness  of  perfection  is  ahke 
necessary  at  all  times  to  his  very  existence 
as  God.  It  would  therefore  be  arrogance  in 
the  worms  of  the  dust  to  imagine  that  they 
may  be  profitable  to  God,  as  he  that  is  wise 
may  be  profitable  to  himself;  but  it  is  pre- 
sumption for  them  to  imagine  that  they  love 
him  without  feeling  a  friendly  interest  in  his 
designs,  a  sincere  desire  for  the  advancement 
of  his  cause  and  the  glory  of  his  name.  Those 
who  love  the  divine  character  necessarily 
deske  to  promote  the  divine  glory.  They 
regard  the  honor  of  God  as  comprehending 
every  good  and  as  concentrating  every  wish. 


70     GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GEACE. 

In  tliis  every  lioly  mind  takes  supreme  de- 
light. It  is  the  ardent  desire,  the  highest 
wish  of  a  sanctified  heart,  that  in  all  his 
works,  in  all  his  plans,  by  all  in  heaven,  by 
all  on  earth,  and  all  in  hell,  God  should  be 
glorified.  Those  who  have  tasted  and  seen 
that  the  Lord  is  good,  have  found  unspeak- 
able pleasure  in  beholding  his  glory,  and 
therefore  do  sincerely  and  ardently  desire  to 
behold  greater  and  brighter  displays  of  it. 
This  sublime  spirit  enters  into  the  essence  of 
all  genuine  love  to  God.  The  infinite  Being, 
who  is  capable  of  enjoying  an  infinitely  high- 
er degree  of  happiness  than  all  created  intel- 
Kgence  besides,  shares  largely  in  the  benevo- 
lent affections  of  every  devout  mind. 

Genuine  love  also  involves  the  exercise  of 
gratitude.  Gratitude  to  God  is  the  exercise 
of  love  to  him  for  the  favors  which  he  has 
communicated  to  us.  The  f)i*iniary  ground 
of  love  to  God  is  the  intrinsic  excellence  of 
his  own  character,  without  regard  to  any 
personal  interest  in  his  favor.  The  first  exer- 
cise of  love  to  God  is,  and  must  be,  antece- 
dent to  the  persuasion  that  God  takes  com- 
placency in  us.      Still  it  is  true,  that  no  man 


LOYE    TO    GOD.  Tl 

wlio  loves  God  for  tlie  amiableness  of  His 
own  character,  can  refrain  from  loving  him 
for  the  favors  which  he  has  communicated  to 
him  in  particular.  The  discovery  of  his  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  favor  which  God  bears" 
to  his  own  people,  will  excite  the  most  ten- 
der and  grateful  emotions.  He  cannot  con- 
template the  care  which  has  sustained  him 
from  year  to  year,  the  goodness  which  encir- 
cles him  every  hour  that  he  lives,  the  word 
which  instructs  him,  and  the  discipHne  which 
is  preparing  him  for  better  enjoyments,  with- 
out some  sensations  of  thankfulness.  He 
cannot  call  to  mind  the  promises  that  have 
supported  him,  the  threatenings  that  have 
warned  him,  and  the  wonderful  grace  that 
has  redeemed  him,  without  admiration  and 
love.  He  cannot  look  forward  to  scenes  of 
temptation  and  sorrow,  through  which  cove- 
nanted mercy  has  engaged  to  bear  him  to 
the  hour  of  death  and  the  joys  of  a  future 
world,  without  a  heart  expanding  with  love 
to  his  heavenly  Father.  That  God  should 
show  mercy  to  a  wretch  like  him ! — angels 
have  no  such  cause  for  gratitude  as  this. 
A  distinguishing  characteristic  of  true  love 


72     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

to  God  is,  that  it  is  suiireme,  "  No  man  can 
serve  two  masters."  There  cannot  be  two 
objects  of  supreme  regard.  "He,"  saith  oiu' 
Sayiour,  "  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more 
than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me."  ^lien  God 
promised  to  circumcise  the  heart  of  his  peo- 
ple, it  was  that  they  might  "love  the  Lord 
their  God  with  all  their  heart  and  all  their 
soul."  God  neither  requires  nor  "^dll  accept 
of  a  divided  affection.  He  is  a  "jealous 
God."  No  rival  may  participate  in  that  love 
which  is  due  to  him.  Genuine  love  to  his 
character  is  something  more  than  languid 
esteem,  a  mere  lukewarm  affection;  some- 
thing more  than  a  vague,  indescribable  emo- 
tion that  "j)lays  round  the  head."  It  is  the 
"  ruHng  passion,"  the  governing  motive.  The 
love  of  God  is  j)aramount  to  every  other 
principle.  Every  attachment  is  subordinate 
to  deHglit  in  his  excellence,  every  desire  sub- 
servient to  that  of  promoting  his  glory.  To 
a  mind  that  loves  him,  God  is  ahke  the  source 
and  sum  of  good. 

"  Of  all  thy  gifts,  thou  art  Thyself  the  cro^Mi ; 
Give  what  thou  wilt,  without  theo  we  are  poor, 
And  with  thee  rich,  take  what  thou  wilt  away." 


LOYE   TO   GOD.  T3 

But  while  we  say,  that  in  every  renewed 
heart  the  love  of  God  is  the  predominant 
principle,  we  ought  not  to  withhold  the  re- 
mark, that  it  exists  in  ygtj  different  degrees 
in  different  persons,  and  in  the  same  persons 
at  different  times.  While  the  people  of  God 
remain  in  this  probationary  state,  they  will 
be  sinners.  Their  love  to  God  will  be  very 
mieqnal  at  different  seasons,  and  at  some, 
very  low  and  languishing.  The  best  of  men 
have  their  seasons  of  sin,  as  well  as  their 
seasons  of  darkness.  Sometimes  they  are  on 
the  mount,  and  sometimes  in  the  vale.  They 
are  prone  to  forsake  God ;  Hke  Israel  of  old, 
they  are  "bent  to  backsHding  from  him." 
The  glory  of  his  character  has  httle  effect 
upon  their  hearts,  and  less  upon  their  con- 
duct. The  honor  of  his  nanie  excites  no 
ardent  desire  to  promote  it,  no  anxious  con- 
cern to  see  it  promoted.  Other  objects  em- 
ploy so  much  of  their  time,  and  engage  so 
much  of  their  affections,  that  for  a  while 
they  think  more  of  things  that  are  seen  and 
temporal,  than  of  those  that  are  unseen  and 
eternal. 

But  there  are  seasons  also  when  the  child 
4 


74     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

of  God,  gradually  excluding  all  other  objects 
from  his  \iew,  fixes  his  mind  upon  the  divine 
character  as  the  object  of  his  chief  dehght, 
and  upon  the  divine  glory  as  the  great  end 
of  his  being.  There  are  seasons,  seasons  of 
inexj^ressible  sweetness  and  dehght,  when, 
like  Ehjah  on  Carmel,  Moses  on  Pisgah,  and 
John  in  Patmos,  he  is  lost  in  the  contempla- 
tion of  the  ever  blessed  God,  and  borne  aloft 
to  catch  a  glimpse  of  that  glory  that  fills  the 
temple  above.  He  beholds  the  Infinite  One 
arrayed  with  majesty  and  excellence,  and 
decked  with  hght  as  with  a  garment.  He 
beholds  the  bright  and  brightening  displays 
of  His  glory,  while  his  bosom  expands  with 
holy  fervor,  and  beats  high  vnth.  pure  devo- 
tion. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  inquire  w^hether  the 
state  of  declension  or  of  vigor  be  the  more 
desirable  ;  nor  which  it  is  our  duty  to  avoid, 
and  which  to  cherish  and  maintain.  Both 
the  duty  and  blessedness  of  God's  peoj)le 
point  to  that  heavenly  precept,  "  Be  ye  per- 
fect, even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  per- 
fect." We  do  not  ask  the  reader  whether  he 
possesses  that  degree  of  love  which  he  ought 


LOVE   TO    GOD.  15 

to  possess  ;  but  whether  lie  possesses  any  that 
is  genuine.  "I  love  them,"  saith  the  voice 
of  eternal  Wisdom,  "  that  love  me."  The  holy 
God  cannot  love  those  who  hate  him.  He 
cannot  regard  those  with  complacency  who 
regard  him  with  aversion.  He  cannot  be 
reconciled  to  those  who  are  irreconciled  to 
him.  He  cannot  be  reconciled  to  those  who 
hate  him,  and  who  justify  their  hatred  to 
him.  He  retains  his  anger  towards  them,  so 
long  as  they  retain  their  opposition  and 
enmity  towards  him.  Hence  none  have  a 
right  to  believe  that  God  loves  them,  unless 
they  love  him.  And  none  will  beUeve  it, 
without  having  been  "given  up  to  strong- 
delusion,  that  they  should  beheve  a  lie."  A 
man  must  be  conscious  of  his  love  to  God, 
before  he  can  have  scriptural  evidence  of 
God's  love  to  him.  And  the  evidence  which 
arises  from  this  consciousness  is  conclusive. 
We  have  no  more  right  to  doubt  of  God's 
love  to  us,  than  we  have  a  right  to  doubt  of 
our  love  to  him.  As  our  love  to  God  grows 
constant  and  vigorous,  the  evidence  increases 
that  we  are  friends  to  God,  and  that  God  is 
a  friend  to  us. 


7G  GOOD    HOPE   THROUGH'SrACE. 

Is  then  thy  heart  right  with  God?  Are 
yon  pleased  Tvith  the  di^dne  character  ?  Do 
you  love  every  part  of  that  character?  Do 
you  love  God's  hoHness  as  well  as  his  grace  ; 
his  justice  as  Avell  as  his  mercy?  Do  you 
love  him  because  he  is  immutably  disposed 
to  hate  sin  and  punish  the  sinner,  or  merely 
because  he  is  disposed  to  forgive  sin  and 
save  the  sinner?  Do  you  love  him  because 
he  has  a  greater  regard  for  his  own  glory 
than  your  happiness ;  or  because  you  appre- 
hend that  he  has  a  higher  regard  for  your 
happiness  than  for  his  own  glory  ?  There  is 
a  kind  of  love  which  flows  from  a  very  un- 
worthy principle.  *'  If  ye  love  them  that  love 
you,  what  thank  have  ye ;  for  sinners  also 
love  those  that  love  them."  To  love  God 
from  no  higher  motive  than  the  persuasion 
that  you  are  interested  in  his  favor,  is  su- 
premely selfish.  Those  who  love  God  from 
no  higher  principle,  do  not  love  him  at  all. 
This  is  the  affection  which  might  and  does 
reign  without  opposition  in  the  hearts  of 
thousands  who  are  far  from  righteousness, 
and  who  vnll  finally  be  excluded  from  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 


LOVE    TO    GOD.  7t 

Are  YOU  reconciled  to  that  character  of 
God  which  you  see  portrayed  on  every  page 
of  his  word  ?  Ai'e  you  well  pleased  that  God 
should  not  only  possess  that  character,  but 
are  you  well  pleased  that  all  his  perfections 
should  be  under  his  own  direction  and  con- 
trol ?  Do  you  love  God  as  a  sovereign  God  ? 
How  do  you  regard  the  manifestation  of  that 
character  in  the  distinguishing  dispensations 
of  grace  and  justice  ?  Do  you  approve  it,  or 
do  you  oppose  it  ?  Do  you  love  it,  or  do  you 
hate  it  ?  Every  thing  which  God  does,  every 
thing  which  he  eternally  designed  to  do,  is 
an  expression  of  what  he  is.  Every  thing 
that  he  does  in  fixing  the  eternal  allotments 
of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  is  a  display 
of  his  true  character.  To  be  opposed  to 
what  he  does  therefore,  or  to  be  opposed  to 
what  he  eternally  designed  to  do,  or  to  ob- 
ject to  his  designing  from  eternity  to  do  any 
thing,  is  to  oppose  God,  and  to  object  to  his 
divine  excellence.  Whenever  any  part  of  the 
divine  character,  clearly  imderstood,  is  the 
object  of  opposition  and  hatred,  rather  than 
of  acquiescence  and  delight,  the  opposition 
is  the  result  of  selfishness  and  mahgnity,  and 


18     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

those  wlio  cherisli  it  have  not  tlie  love  of  God 
in  tliem. 

Is  the  cjJorij  of  God  tlie  great  end  of  jour 
being?  Do  yon  sincerely  and  ardently  de- 
eu'e  to  see  greater  and  brighter  displays  of 
fchat  glory  ?  Do  you  rejoice  that  God  is  un- 
folding, and  will  for  ever  unfold,  the  excel- 
lence of  his  character  ?  Do  you  know  noth- 
ing of  this  benevolent  regard  for  God,  and 
the  interests  of  his  kingdom?  Do  you  find 
your  happiness  in  yourself,  or  out  of  yourself? 
Do  you  rejoice  merely  in  the  hope  of  your 
personal  interest  in  God's  favor ;  or  do  you 
rejoice  in  the  hope  of  his  glory?  Can  you 
unite  your  feehngs  with  his,  your  joys  with 
the  joys  of  his  peojDle,  and  share  in'  the  bless- 
edness which  results  from  beholding  the  evei 
blessed  God  completely  and  for  ever  glori- 
fied? 

Wliat  has  your  experience  taught  you  of 
the  love  of  gratitude  to  God?  Do  you  be- 
hold God  in  all  your  mercies  ?  Do  you  feel 
that  you  Hve  in  God's  world,  that  you  breathe 
God's  vital  air,  that  you  are  upheld  by  God's 
powerful  hand  ?  Do  you  delight  to  feel  the 
sweet  and  tender  obhgations  that  bind  you 


LOVE   TO    GOD.  Id 

to  the  Lord  Jesiis  Christ?  Have  yoti  seen 
the  seasons  when  the  abundant  goodness, 
the  infinite  grace  of  God  towards  yon,  a 
polluted  sinner,  seemed  enough  for  ever  to 
fill  your  heart  with  love  and  your  lips  with 
praise  ? 

Is  your  love  to  God  supreme  ?  Does  it  rise 
superior  to  the  attachments  of  flesh  and 
sense  ?  What,  whom  do  you  love  more  than 
the  everlasting  God  ?  In  whose  character  do 
you  behold  more  beauty?  Whose  blessed- 
ness is  an  object  of  warmer  desire  or  more 
vigorous  exertion  ?  To  whom  are  you  more 
gratefal  ?  Do  you  love  God  more  than  "  fa- 
ther or  mother,  wife  or  children,  houses  or 
lands  ?"  Do  you  love  him  better  than  yoicr- 
self?  "  If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not 
his  father,  and  mother,  and  wife,  and  chil- 
dren, and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  Ms 
own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

There  may  be  danger,  but  surely  there  can 
be  no  necessity  of  being  deceived  in  a  case 
so  plain.  Supreme  love  to  God  is  decisive 
evidence  of  the  renewed  heart.  Wlien  the 
soul  is  ushered  from  the  darkness  of  sin  into 
God's  marvellous  Hght,  it  beholds  God  in  an 


80    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

infinitely  different  light  from  what  it  ever 
beheld  him  before.  Now  God  is  everjrv'here. 
There  is  an  inexpressible  beauty,  a  mild  glory 
in  almost  every  object,  because  it  is  the  work 
of  his  hand,  and  reflects  the  excellence  of  his 
nature.  The  language  of  those  who  love  God 
is  that  of  the  rejoicing  church,  "  I  will  greatly 
rejoice  in  the  Lord ;  my  soul  shall  be  joyful 
in  my  God."  They  think  how  excellent  a 
being  God  is,  and  how  exalted  would  be  the 
happiness  to  enjoy  him  to  perfection,  and  to 
be  swallowed  up  in  him  for  ever.  To  see  and 
to  love  that  which  is  infinitely  lovely,  to  be- 
hold and  to  adore  that  which  is  supremely 
adorable,  is  the  character  and  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  heavenly  world.  The  early  dawn 
of  this  spiritual  Hght,  the  first  glow  of  this 
pure  affection,  is  the  ghmmering  of  that  sa- 
cred fire  which  will  burn  with  a  purer  and 
a   brighter   flame    throughout    interminable 


Does  the  reader  then  Jove  God  ?  If  so,  the 
question  as  to  his  own  good  estate  is  at  rest. 
If  you  are  a  friend  to  God,  God  will  be  an 
everlasting  friend  to  you.  Nothing  shall  sep- 
arate you  from  his  love.     "Neither  angels, 


LOVE    TO    GOD.  81 

nor  principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things 
present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor 
depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be  able 
to  separate  yon  from  the  love  of  God  which 
is  in  Christ  Jesus  your  Lord." 


Good  Hope. 


82     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 


7.  REPENTANCE. 

The  fall  of  Adam  involYed  both  himself 
and  his  posterity  in  sin  and  ruin.  From  the 
moment  of  the  first  transgression,  sin  chal- 
lenged imiversal  empire.  From  that  fatal 
hour  it  began  to  assume  dominion,  with  the 
certain  prospect  of  swaying  its  sceptre  over 
every  clime  and  every  heart.  But  blessed  be 
God,  though  its  empire  is  universal,  it  is  not 
in  all  its  extent  everlasting.  There  is  One 
who  "taketh  the  prey  from  the  mighty." 
The  conqueror  is  vanquished.  Though  "  sin 
reigns  unto  death,  grace  reigns  imto  eternal 
life." 

A  mere  glance  at  the  ruin  and  recovery  of 
man  is  enough  to  convince  us  that  of  the 
religion  of  fallen  beings  repentance  forms  an 
essential  part.  It  is  ahke  significant  of  the 
character,  and  indispensable  to  the  haj)pi- 
ness  of  a  converted  sinner  to  be  penitent. 

In  the  order  of  gracious  exercises,  repent- 
ance follows  love  to  God.     An  affectionate 


REPENTANCE.  83 

view  of  God  prepares  the  mind  to  take  a  just 
view  of  sin.  As  it  is  impossible  to  repent  of 
having  sinned  against  a  God  that  we  hate, 
so  it  is  impossible  not  to  repent  of  having 
sinned  against  a  God  that  we  love.  When 
the  heart  has  been  renewed ;  when  the  soul, 
enhghtened  by  the  divine  Sj)irit,  sees  the 
beauty,  the  loveliness  of  the  divine  charac- 
ter, it  cannot  seriously  reflect  upon  a  hfe  of 
sin  without  unfeigned  grief.  "  Godly  sorrow 
worketh  repentance  to  salvation,  not  to  be 
repented  of;  but  the  sorrow  of  the  world 
worketh  death." 

Genuine  repentance  is  that  sorrow  for  sin 
which  arises  from  a  sense  of  its  intrinsic  tur- 
pitude. 

It  is  essential  to  the  nature  of  godly  sor- 
row that  we  possess  a  settled  conviction  of 
the  evil  of  sin.  It  is  not  enough  to  have 
merely  a  transient  view  of  our  sinfulness ;  we 
must  possess  a  settled  conviction  of  the  great 
evil  of  sin.  The  real  penitent,  though  he  has 
reason  to  lament  that  he  is  never  so  deeply 
affected  wdth  the  view  of  his  sin  as  he  should 
be — seldom  so  much  so  as  he  hoped  to  be — 
and  very  frequently  not  affected  at  all,  yet  at 


84     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GKACE. 

some  favored  seasons  lie  is  enabled  to  view 
it  in  a  measure  as  it  is.  He  sees  its  detest- 
able nature.  He  is  deeply  impressed  T\dtli  a 
sense  of  its  turpitude  as  a  violation  of  law. 
This  is  the  definition  which  the  a23ostle  has 
given  of  sin.  It  is  (avofna)  the  transgression 
of  law.  The  God  who  made  all  worlds,  and 
who  alone  is  quahfied  to  govern  the  worlds 
which  he  has  made,  has  given  a  rule  of  ac- 
tion to  his  creatures  which  is  the  result  of 
infinite  wisdom  and  goodness.  The  precept 
and  the  sanction  of  this  law  are  perfectly 
equitable.  The  highest  authority  has  pro- 
nounced them  to  be  holy,  just,  and  good. 

To  violate  this  law  is  an  e^dl.  To  violate 
this  law  is  nothing  less  than  an  attempt  to 
sunder  the  bond  that  holds  the  moral  world 
together.  It  is  therefore  a  great  evil.  Every 
violation  of  this  law  is  an  effort  to  resist  the 
salutary  effects  of  a  perfect  rule  of  action. 
It  is  a  virtual  opposition  to  all  the  good 
which  that  rule  of  action,  if  obeyed,  would 
eventually  secure.  Could  the  evil  nature  and 
tendency  of  sin,  therefore,  be  fiilly  expressed ; 
could  this  "enemy  of  all  righteousness"  be 
clothed  with  the  energy  of  omnipotence,  aU 


REPENTANCE.  85 

that  is  good,  all  tliat  is  liappy  would  be 
chased  away,  and  the  world  that  once  smiled 
Tinder  the  beneficent  hand  of  its  Maker, 
wonld  be  left  bare  of  the  last  vestige  of  bhss. 
The  same  accursed  foe  that  huiied  the  an- 
gels fi'om  the  highest  heavens;  that  drove 
our  first  parents  from  Paradise ;  that  deluged 
the  world  by  a  flood;  that  laid  waste  the 
cities  of  the  plain;  that  has  multiphed  its 
trophies  in  slaughtered  thousands;  that  has 
given  death  its  sting  and  the  law  its  curse ; 
that  has  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory — would 
not  stay  his  ruthless  hand  until  he  had 
"rolled  the  volume  of  desolation  "  through  the 
empire  of  the  Eternal,  and  enjoyed  the  ma- 
lignant pleasure  of  brooding  over  the  ruins 
of  the  desolated  universe. 

In  violating  the  law,  sin  also  dishonors  the 
Lawgiver.  It  aims  the  blow  at  God ;  it  rises 
in  rebelhon  against  his  rightful  authority;  it 
is  contrary  to  every  attribute  of  his  nature ; 
it  is  the  abominable  thing  which  his  soul 
hateth.  To  enhance  its  turpitude,  think  a 
moment  against  luliat  a  God  sin  is  commit- 
ted. He  is  a  great  God,  a  God  of  infinite 
majesty.     He  is  "decked  with  majesty  and- 


86     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

excellence."  The  "  everlasting  mountains 
are  scattered"  at  his  approach;  the  "perpet- 
ual hills  do  bow"  before  him.  He  is  a  holy 
God ;  so  holy  that  the  "  heavens  are  not  pure 
in  his  sight,"  and  his  "  angels  are  charged 
with  folly."  He  is  a  good  God.  He  is  love 
itself.  He  is  a  merciful  God.  "  His  mercy  is 
everlasting;"  it  is  "great  unto  the  heavens." 
He  is  the  Being  vrhom  we  are  under  the 
greatest  obligations  to  adore,  because  he  is 
supremely  adorable ;  a  Being  whom  we  are 
under  the  greatest  obHgations  to  love,  be- 
cause he  is  infinitely  lovely ;  a  Being  whom 
we  are  under  the  greatest  obhgations  to  obey, 
because  his  government  is  perfect.  And  yet 
we  rebel.  Creatures  whose  "  foundation  is  in 
the  dust"  contend  with  their  Maker!  Crea- 
tiu'es  who  hang  every  hour  u23on  his  boiuity, 
"  forget  his  power,  abuse  his  love !"  Sinners 
who  are  upheld  every  moment  by  his  mercy, 
tread  that  mercy  under  their  feet!  O  how 
great  an  evil  is  sin!  "If  one  man  sin  against 
another,  the  Judge  shall  judgp  him  ;  but  if  a 
man  sin  against  God,  who  shall  entreat  for 
him?" 

Thoughts  in  kind  like  these  pass  through 


REPENTANCE.  87 

the  mind  of  the  penitent  as  he  calls  to  re- 
membrance his  mnltiplied  transgressions. 
No  longer  does  he  make  hght  of  sin.  He 
views  it  in  an  entirely  different  Hght  from 
that  in  which  it  is  viewed  by  a  thoughtless 
world.  To  him  it  is  odious ;  it  is  vile ;  it  is 
utterly  detestable ;  nay,  more,  it  is  exceedingly 
sinful. 

In  view  of  the  intrinsic  tui^pitude  of  sin, 
therefore,  the  penitent  mourns.  And  his  sor- 
row is 

Ingemtoiis :  it  is  not  a  selfish  sorrow.  The 
object  upon  which  the  soul  fixes  her  thoughts 
while  indulging  her  grief,  is  sin,  and  not  pun- 
ishment. It  is  for  this  that  she  mourns.  This, 
in  the  hands  of  the  divine  Spirit,  is  the  spring 
of  all  godly  sorrow. 

The  leading  principle  that  makes  repent- 
ance a  duty  is,  that  evil  has  been  done,  a 
crime  has  been  committed.  To  the  renovated 
heart  this  is  also  the  leading  motive  to  repent- 
ance. No  truth  is  more  clear  than  that  sin- 
ners ought  to  be,  and  that  saints  are  penitent 
for  sin.  The  inherent  odiousness  of  sin  is  the 
object  of  their  sorrow ;  and  were  this  the  only 
consideration  that  could  be  presented  to  the 


88     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

mind,  this  alone  would  be  enough  to  clothe 
them  with  eternal  mourning  and  bathe  them 
in  ceaseless  tears.  We  cannot  refrain  from 
saying  that  neither  the  obligation  nor  the 
motive  to  repentance  are  founded  in  the  hope 
of  mercy  or  the  actual  exercise  of  it,  though 
both  are  thereby  strengthened.  Notwith- 
standing both  the  obligation  and  the  motives 
to  repentance  are  vastly  increased  by  the 
proclamation  of  mercy  in  the  gospel,  yet  men 
must  repent,  and  do  repent  because  they  have 
done  wrong,  and  not  because  there  is  or  is 
not  a  probabihty  that  they  shall  escape  pun- 
ishment. The  moment  that  our  first  father 
fell,  before  he  heard  the  voice  of  God  among 
the  trees  of  the  garden,  while  under  the  fear- 
ful apprehension,  nay,  the  certain  ex23ectancy 
of  the  rigid  execution  of  the  curse,  he  was 
under  the  immutable  obHgation  to  repent. 
The  fallen  spirits  in  hell  are  now  without  ex- 
cuse for  not  humbHng  themselves  before  God. 
Though  bearing  the  punishment  of  their  ini- 
quity, yet  in  view  of  the  intrinsic  turpitude 
of  their  sin,  they  ought  to  be  overwhelmed 
with  unfeigned  sorrow. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  these  remarks 


REPENTANCE.  89 

are  made  with  tlie  design  of  distinguishing 
between  that  "sorrow  of  the  world  which 
worketh  death,  and  that  godly  sorrow  which 
worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be 
repented  of."  In  "the  world  that  heth  in 
wickedness,"  there  is  enough  of  that  "  sor- 
row which  Avorketh  death."  There  is  the 
sorrow  which  arises  merely  from  a  sense  of 
danger,  and  the  fear  of  punishment.  Such 
was  the  repentance  of  Ahithophel  and  Judas. 
But  this  is  at  an  infinite  remove  from  "  that 
godly  sorrow  which  worketh  repentance  not 
to  be  repented  of."  It  is  one  thing  to  mourn 
for  sin  because  it  exposes  us  to  hell,  and 
another  to  mourn  for  it  because  it  is  an  infi- 
nite evil.  It  is  one  thing  to  mourn  for  it 
because  it  is  injurious  to  ourselves  ;  another, 
to  mourn  for  it  because  it  is  offensive  to  God. 
It  is  one  thing  to  be  terrified ;  another,  to  be 
humbled.  A  man  may  tremble  at  the  ap- 
prehension of  divine  wrath,  while  he  has 
no  sense  of  the  intrinsic  turpitude  of  sin, 
and  no  true  contrition  of  soul  on  account 
of  it. 

There    is   also    the    sorrow  which    arises 
merely  from  the  hope  of  forgiveness.     Such 


90     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

is  tlie  mercenary  repentance  of  tlie  hypocrite 
and  the  self-deceived.  Many,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  have  eagerly  cherished  the  expecta- 
tion of  eternal  life,  and  here  begun  and  ended 
their  religion.  Many,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
have  eagerly  cherished  the  hope  of  mercy, 
and  here  begun  their  repentance,  who  have 
mourned  at  the  last,  and  lain  cloiun  in  sorroic. 
In  all  this  there  is  nothing  that  is  ingenuous ; 
no  godly  sorrow  arising  fi'om  a  sense  of  the 
intrinsic  turpitude  of  sin. 

Eeal  repentance  is  also  deej?  and  thorough. 
It  is  bitter  sorrow.  It  rends  the  heart.  The 
penitent  sees  that  he  is  a  vile  sinner.  He 
sees  that  he  has  been  his  ovm.  destroyer. 
The  Spirit  of  God  has  taught  him  that  sin  is 
something  more  than  a  mere  calamity.  He 
feels  that  he  deserves  to  be  blamed  rather 
than  pitied.  He  views  his  sin  as  altogether 
criminal  and  inexcusable.  Though  the  dic- 
tates of  an  evil  heart  have  often  prompted 
him  to  go  astray,  yet  he  knows  they  have 
never  constrained  him  contrary  to  his  own 
choice.  That  heart,  though  full  of  evil  and 
desperately  wicked,  he  has  cherished.  He 
sees,  therefore,  that  lie  himself  is  the  only 


REPENTANCE.  91 

blamable  cause  of  his  sinfulness.  Tlie  great 
evil  of  sin  is  chargeable  upon  him.  He  has 
done  it. 

And  can  the  penitent  see  his  own  vileness, 
mthont  bowing  in  the  dust  before  God  ?  He 
is  ashamed  and  confounded  when  he  looks 
back  upon  his  past  hfe,  and  when  he  now 
looks  into  his  own  heart.  He  sees  that  he 
has  broken  God's  holy  law,  and  resisted  the 
claim  of  his  rightful  Sovereign.  The  thought 
which  most  deeply  affects  him  is,  that  he  has 
sinned  against  God.  In  comparison  with 
this,  his  other  crimes  vanish  to  nothing. 
The  language  of  his  heart  is,  "  Against  thee, 
thee  only,  have  I  sinned."  If  he  had  not 
sinned  against  a  great  and  holy  and  good 
and  merciful  God,  his  sins  would  not  appear 
so  great.  But  Oh,  he  has  sinned  against  the 
God  who  made  him,  the  God  who  has  pre- 
served and  redeemed  him.  Creating  good- 
ness, providential  care,  and  redeeming  love 
have  been  bestowed  upon  him  almost  in  vain. 
This  is  the  dart  which  wounds  him.  He  ex- 
claims with  David,  "  I  have  sinned  against 
the  Lord.  I  have  committed  this  great 
wickedness."     He  sensibly  feels  that  ho  has 


92     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

sinned  against  tlie  "  God  of  all  grace.'*  "  He 
beholds  Him  whom  he  has  pierced  ;"  he  looks 
away  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  there  sees 
what  his  sins  have  done ;  and  is  gTieved  to 
the  inmost  soul. 

The  numher  of  his  sins  affects  him  no  less 
severely  than  the  aggravation  of  them.  The 
penitent  sees  that  he  has  not  only  sinned, 
but  sinned  in  a  thousand  forms.  He  sees 
sin  in  a  thousand  things  in  which  he  never 
saw  it  before.  It  appears  to  mix  itself  with 
every  thing.  He  gToans  under  the  body  of 
sin  and  death.  At  some  periods,  he  goes 
bowed  do^Ti  to  the  earth  all  the  day  long. 
He  feels  that  his  "  transgressions  are  multi- 
plied." Often  is  his  "laughter  turned  into 
mourning,  and  his  joy  into  heaviness."  With 
what  a  melting,  broken  heart,  does  he  He  at 
the  feet  of  his  injured  Saviour,  and  beg  for 
mercy.  He  is  abased  before  God.  He  is 
ready  to  cry  with  the  humbled  jisalmist, 
"  My  sin  is  ever  before  me ;"  or  with  the 
mourning  prophet,  "  O  my  God,  I  am  asham- 
ed, and  blush  to  Hft  up  my  face  to  thee ;  for 
mine  iniquities  are  increased  over  my  head, 
and  my  trespass  is  gro^^Ti  up  into  the  heav- 


REPENTANCE.  93 

ens."  It  is  enough  to  break  his  heart,  seri- 
ously to  reflect  upon  his  innumerable  trans- 
gressions. He  remembers  his  own  ways, 
and  his  doings  that  w^ere  not  good,  and 
loathes  himself  in  his  own  sight  for  his  ini- 
quities and  abominations. 

True  repentance  is  not  only  ingenuous  and 
deep,  it  is  attended  with  actual  reformation. 
It  exhibits  itself  in  real  hfe.  The  penitent 
feels  the  force  of  considerations  which  never 
fail  to  restrain  fi'om  sin.  He  is  afraid  of  sin. 
He  dreads  its  aggravated  guilt.  "  How  shall 
I  commit  this  great  wickedness  and  sin 
against  God!"  The  thought  is  enough  for 
ever  to  cut  him  off  from  all  access  to  the 
accursed  thing.  He  is  a  sinner  still,  but  he 
cannot  remain  a  sinner  in  the  sense  in  which 
he  was  a  sinner  once.  He  manifests  a  desire 
to  honor  the  God  he  has  so  long  dishonored; 
to  undo  what  he  has  done  against  the  inter- 
ests of  his  kingdom,  and  repair  the  injury  he 
has  caused  to  the  souls  of  men.  There  is  no 
genuine  repentance  where  there  is  no  for- 
saking of  sin.  Still  to  go  on  in  sin,  to  prac- 
tise iniquity  with  greediness,  with  constancy, 
and  with  perseverance,  is  incompatible  with 


94     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

the  nature  of  that  sorrow  which  is  unto  sal- 
vation. 

With  these  plain  principles  in  view,  we 
think  the  reader  may  decide  the  point  as  to 
his  own  good  estate.  The  preceding  obser- 
vations will  go  far  towards  enabhng  him  to 
distinguish  between  the  precious  and  the 
\i\e. 

If  yours  is  godly  sorrow,  it  is  then  ingenu- 
ous. It  arises  from  a  sense  of  the  intrinsic 
turpitude  of  sin.  Eetire  into  your  own  bosom, 
therefore,  and  ask  yourself  questions  lilve 
these :  Do  I  possess  any  settled  conviction 
of  the  evil  of  sin?  Does  sm  appear  to  me, 
as  the  "  evil  and  bitter  thing  ?"  Does  a  con- 
viction of  the  evil  of  it  increase  ?  There  are 
moments  w^hen  heaven  and  hell  He  out  of 
sight :  how  does  sin  appear  then  ?  Do  you 
hate  it  merely  because  it  is  ruinous  to  yoiu- 
soul,  or  because  it  is  offensive  to  God  ?  Do 
you  hate  it  because  it  is  sin  ?  Do  you  mourn 
over  it  because  it  is  wrong  ? 

In  the  sanctified  heart,  the  hatred  of  sin  is 
supreme.  As  there  is  nothing  so  bad  as  sm, 
so  there  is  nothing  the  penitent  hates  so 
much.     Is  then  your  repentance  deep  and 


REPENTANCE.  95 

sincere?  Is  sin  prevailingly  your  greatest 
grief?  Seriously  considered,  would  the  de- 
liverance from  any  evil  be  a  more  joyful 
event  than  the  deliverance  from  sin?  If 
there  could  be  no  dehverance  from  sin  but 
at  the  expense  of  the  choicest  comforts, 
would  you  cheerfuUy  make  the  sacrifice? 
Do  your  misfortunes  grieve  you  more  than 
your  sins ;  or  your  sins  more  than  your  mis- 
fortunes ? 

Do  your  sins  appear  many  and  aggravated? 
Do  you  see  sin  in  a  thousand  different  forms, 
and  new  instances,  in  which  you  have  not 
dreamed  of  it  before?  Do  you  mouin  over 
the  sins  of  the  heart  ?  Do  you  abhor  your- 
self for  your  innate  depravity,  as  one  that 
was  "shaped  in  iniquity,  and  conceived  in 
sin  ?"  Do  you  mourn  over  your  vain  thoughts 
and  carnal  affections ;  over  a  life  of  sin,  in- 
gratitude, and  profligacy ;  over  your  unprof- 
itableness and  imfaithfulness  ?  Does  it  grieve 
you  that  you  are  worldly,  proud,  and  selfish ; 
that  you  have  lifted  up  your  soul  unto 
vanity,  and  panted  after  the  dust  of  the 
earth? 

Does  it  grieve  you  to  the  heart,  to  caU  to 


96     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

miiid  that  you  have  sinned  against  God? 
When  your  eyes  "  behold  the  King,  the  Lord 
of  hosts,"  are  you  constrained  to  exclaim, 
Woe  is  me  ?  When  you  "look  on  Him  whom 
you  have  pierced,"  are  you  constrained  to 
cry  out,  /  cim  undone  ? 

The  degree  of  godly  sorrow  is  by  no  means 
to  be  overlooked  in  your  self-examination. 
"WTien  God  touches,  he  hreaJcs  the  heart. 
Where  he  pours  out  the  Spirit  of  grace,  they 
are  not  a  few  transient  sighs  that  agitate  the 
breast ;  they  are  heart-rending  pangs  of  sor- 
row. "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,"  saith  God, 
"  that  I  will  pour  upon  the  house  of  David, 
and  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  the 
spirit  of  grace  and  of  suj)plications  ;  and  they 
shall  look  upon  Me  whom  they  have  pierced, 
and  they  shall  mourn  for  Him,  as  one  mourn- 
eth  for  an  only  son,  and  shall  be  in  bitterness 
for  Him,  as  one  that  is  in  bitterness  for  his 
first-born.  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a 
great  mourning  in  Jerusalem,  as  the  mourn- 
ing of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megid- 
don.  And  the  land  shall  mourn,  every  family 
apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of  David 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart;  the  family  of 


KEPENTANCE.  97 

the  house  of  Nathan  apart,  and  their  Tvdves 
apart ;  the  family  of  the  house  of  Levi  apart, 
and  their  wives  apart ;  the  family  of  Shimei 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart;  every  family 
apart,  and  their  wives  apart."  Thus  have 
the  Jews  mourned,  and  thus  will  that  de- 
voted nation  mourn  again,  for  crucifying  the 
Lord  of  glory.  Does  the  reader  know  any 
thing  of  such  sorrow  as  tliis?  Can  no  soli- 
tary hour,  no  lonely  spot,  bear  testimony  to 
the  bitterness  of  his  grief?  What  grieves 
you  more,  than  that  you  have  ten  thousand 
times  pierced  the  heart  of  redeeming  love  ? 

Do  you  ahhor  sin  ?  Do  you  turn  from  it  ? 
Do  you  cherish  that  regard  for  the  law  and 
character  of  God,  that  tender  regard  for  the 
crucified  Saviour  which  inspires  you  v/ith 
fixed  aversion  to  all  that,  is  polluting  in  the 
sins  of  the  heart,  and  all  that  is  injurious  in 
the  sins  of  the  life  ?  Do  you  feel  an  increas- 
ing tenderness  of  conscience  whenever  you 
are  tempted  to  go  astray?  Are  you  afraid 
of  dishonoring  God,  and  do  you  tremble  lest 
you  crucify  his  dear  Son  afresh  ? 

Fellow-sinner,  if  you  know  any  thing  of  all 
this,  you  are  not  a  stranger  to  that  "  godly 

Good  Hope.  '7 


98     GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

sorrow  which  worketh  repentance  to  salva- 
tion not  to  be  repented  of."  God  has  prom- 
ised to  forgive  the  penitent.  He  has  pledged 
his  word  that  the  act  of  forgiveness  on  his 
part  shall  follow  the  exercise  of  repentance 
on  yours.  Eeturning  prodigal,  pardoning 
mercy  is  thine.  It  is  as  sure  as  the  sincerity 
of  thy  repentance.  "Wlioso  covereth  his  sins 
shall  not  prosper ;  but  whoso  confesseth  and 
forsaketh  them,  shall  find  mercy."  His  re- 
pentance shall  not  jDurchase  it ;  liis  repent- 
ance does  not  deserve  it.  Eepentance  has  no 
intrinsic  efficacy;  it  cannot  entitle  to  pardon. 
It  is  not  the  Saviour,  though  without  it  we 
cannot  be  saved.  God  dehghts  to  forgive ; 
he  does  forgive,  though  it  cost  the  blood  of 
his  Son.  No  sooner  does  the  rebel  loathe 
and  abhor  himself,,  than  God  passes  by  his 
transgressions  and  ceases  to  retain  his  anger. 
"  He  rejoices  over  him  with  joy ;  he  rests  in 
his  love  ;  he  will  joy  over  him  with  singing." 
To  forgive  a  hell-deserving  sinner,  to  receive 
a  rebel  into  favor,  to  wash  away  his  dee])- 
stained  guilt,  and  become  the  everlasting 
Friend  of  the  friendless,  is  the  highest  exer- 
cise of  perfect  benevolence.     O  how  gratify* 


EEPENTANCE.  09 

ing  to  tlie  "benevolent  heart  of  God  to  behold 
tlie  returning  prodigal,  though  a  great  tuay 
off.  His  compassions  yearn  over  him ;  he 
longs  to  receive  him  into  his  arms ;  he  is 
impatient  to  press  him  to  his  bosom.  "  He 
runs ;  he  falls  upon  his  neck,  and  kisses 
him." 


100         GOOD    HOPE    THPtOUGH    GEACE. 


8.  FAITH. 

The  first  glimmering  of  liglit  that  daT\Tied 
upon  the  darkness  of  the  fall  was  ushered  in 
by  an  obscure  revelation  of  the  coyenant  of 
gTace.  This  covenant  was  faintly  exliibited 
to  Adam  and  Eve  in  the  denunciation  of  the 
curse  upon  the  tempter.  It  was  made  known 
more  clearly  to  Noah  after  the  flood.  It  was 
renewed  with  Abraham  after  God  had  called 
him  from  XJr  of  the  Chaldees,  with  Isaac  in 
Gerar,  -with  Jacob  at  Bethel,  and  with  the 
generation  of  Israel  in  the  T^dlderness.  The 
liglit  of  truth  rose  gradually,  and  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  gradually  unfolded  its  bless- 
ings, till  the  star  of  Bethlehem  pointed  to 
the  Sun  of  righteousness,  and  the  promise  of 
the  covenant  was  sealed  by  the  blood  of  its 
Surety. 

The  covenant  of  redemption  was  antece- 
dently necessary  to  the  existence  of  the  cov- 
enant of  grace.  It  was  the  perfect  accom- 
plishment of  that  arduous  part  which  the 
Bedeemer  engaged  to  bear  in  the  covenant 


FAITH.  101 

of  redemption,  that  laid  tlie  foundation  for 
the  covenant  of  gi'ace.  It  was  this  thsiijics- 
tifiecl  God  in  entering  into  covenant  with  be- 
Hevers,  and  in  engaging  to  save  them  through 
faith  in  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

The  covenant  of  redemption  subsists  be- 
tween the  sacred  persons  of  the  ever-blessed 
Trinity,  of  which  the  atonement  of  Christ  for 
the  sins  of  the  world  is  the  stipulation,  and 
the  salvation  of  his  chosen  seed  the  promise. 
The  covenant  of  grace  subsists  between  God 
and  behevers,  of  which  faith  in  Christ  is  the 
stij)ulation,  and  the  salvation  of  behevers  the 
promise. 

The  covenant  of  grace,  therefore,  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  covenant  of  redemption,  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  promise  of 
God  to  save  all  those  who  beheve  in  Jesus 
Christ.  The  law  of  God  is  not  now  the  rule 
of  justification,  though  it  is  the  rule  of  duty. 
We  no  longer  hear  the  righteous  demand  of 
that  broken  covenant,  "This  do,  and  thou 
shalt  hve,"  but  the  milder  language  of  gra- 
cious economy,  "  Believe,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved."  Of  this  covenant,  faith  in  Christ  is 
that  part  which  is  fulfilled  by  the  behever. 


102    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

He  believes ;  and  upon  the  principles  of  tliis 
covenant,  tlie  first  act  of  faitli  gives  him  a 
humble  claim  to  the  promise. 

Every  Christian  grace  is  the  effect  of  the 
immediate  agency  and  the  almighty  power  of 
God  upon  the  heart.  Faith  is  expressly  de- 
clared by  the  apostle  to  be  the  gift  of  God, 
though  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  act  of  the 
creature.  It  is  uniformly  represented  as  of 
the  operation  of  God.  It  is  one  of  the  fruits  of 
the  Spirit.  "  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy, 
long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness, /chY/l" 
"No  man  can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,  hut 
by  tJie  Holy  Ghosts  It  is  expressly  said  of 
those  who  behoved  on  Christ  in  the  days  of 
his  humanity,  that  they  "  were  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the 
will  of  man,  hut  of  God.'"  It  is  also  unequiv- 
ocally declared,  that  "whosoever  beheveth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  is  horn  of  God'' 
Faith  then  is  the  exercise  of  the  ncio  heart. 

It  is  difficult  to  give  a  definition  of  faith 
that  comprehends  all  its  properties.  In  its 
most  general  character,  it  is  reliance  iqjon  the 
testimony  of  God's  word.  It  is  Teceivin{j  the 
truth  in  the  love  of  it.     The  apostle  Paul  uses 


FAITH.  103 

the  phrase,  "received  not  the  love  of  the 
truth,"  as  s;)aioiiymous  "with  the  phrase,  "be- 
lieved not  the  truth."  Faith,  however,  when 
viewed  as  that  evangehcal  grace  which  is  the 
condition  of  the  new  covenant,  possesses  al- 
together a  pecuhar  character.  Though  the 
elementary  principles  of  every  evangelical 
grace  are  involved  in  that  love  which  is  the 
fulfilling  of  the  law,  yet  every  grace  has  a 
specific  form.  Faith,  strictly  speaking,  is 
distinct  from  every  other  exercise  of  the  re- 
newed heart.  It  is  not  love,  nor  repentance, 
nor  humility,  nor  submission,  nor  seK-denial, 
nor  hope.  It  is  indeed  the  exercise  of  a  heart 
that  akeady  loves  God,  and  that  is  humbled 
on  account  of  sin,  but  it  is  one  which  takes 
that  view  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  which 
is  taken  by  no  other  grace. 

One  of  the  best  definitions  of  faith  will  be 
found  in  the  Shorter  Catechism  of  the  Assem- 
bly of  Divines  at  Westminster.  In  answering 
the  question,  "What  is  faith  in  Jesus  Christ?" 
they  say,  ^^  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  a  saving 
grace,  luhereby  we  receive  and  rest  iijpon  him 
alone  for  salvation,  as  he  is  offered  to  us  in  the 
gospeV 


104    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

Faith  ill  Jesus  Christ  is  a  complex  act  of 
the  miiicl,  and  comprises  several  distinct 
things.  One  of  its  properties  is  a  true  know- 
ledge of  Christ's  character.  It  is  impossible 
to  "receive  and  rest  upon"  a  being  whose 
character  we  do  not  know,  and  whose  char- 
acter we  do  not  know  to  be  worthy  of  confi- 
dence. "I  know  whom  I  have  beheved," 
says  the  apostle.  Faith  views  the  Lord  Jesus 
as  he  is ;  it  discerns  the  divine  excellence  and 
majesty  of  his  character;  it  recognizes  the 
child  that  was  born  in  Bethlehem  as  "the 
mighty  God,  the  everlasting  Father."  The 
proper  divinity  of  the  Saviour's  character  is 
one  of  those  plain  principles  of  the  gospel 
that  are  essential  to  evangehcal  faith.  To 
make  an  all-sufficient  atonement  for  sin,  to 
soften  the  obdurate  heart,  to  aid  the  behever 
in  his  trials  and  sufferings,  to  defend  him 
fi'om  the  power  and  subtlety  of  his  enemies, 
and  to  bring  him  off  conqueror  at  last,  would 
baffle  the  designs  of  all  but  eternal  Wisdom, 
and  mock  the  power  of  all  but  an  almighty 
arm.  Faith  views  the  Saviour  as  truly  di- 
vine. None  other  than  the  eteenal  Woed 
MiYDE  FLESH  Can  be  the  foundation  of  lioj^e, 


FAITH.  105 

for  none  other  can  be  "  miglity  to  save."  It 
is  of  presumption  to  profess  to  know  Christ, 
without  acknowledging  him  as  the  second  of 
the  three  coequal  persons  in  the  Godhead. 

As  the  behever  discerns  the  Lord  Jesus  as 
he  is,  he  also  acknowledges  him  as  a  real  and 
proper  man.  He  views  him  as  he  is  repre- 
sented by  the  apostle,  to  be  "  the  one  God 
and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  men,  the 
man  Christ  Jesus."  It  is  expressly  said  that 
Christ  "took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  an- 
gels, but  the  seed  of  Abraham."  The  ac- 
knowledgment of  Christ  as  man  as  well  as 
God  cannot  be  separated  from  the  true  know- 
ledge of  him  as  he  is  revealed  in  the  Bible. 
There  he  is  represented,  and  there  he  must 
be  viewed  as  encircled  with  all  the  majesty 
of  the  self-existent  God,  and  all  the  "  milder 
glories"  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus. 

The  believer  regards  Christ  in  his  whole 
mediatorial  character.  He  sees  the  fulness, 
the  perfection  of  his  work,  no  less  than  the 
divine  excellence  of  his  person.  He  has  re- 
spect to  all  the  offices  of  Christ.  He  views 
him  as  the  Peophet  who  came  to  pubHsli  the 
Tvill  of  God  and  declare  the  way  of  salvation. 
5* 


106         GOOD    IIorE    THEOUGH   GEACE. 

He  views  liim  as  the  Peeest  whom  it  became 
God  to  institute  and  sinners  to  possess,  as  the 
One  "  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  pro- 
pitiation, through  faith  in  his  blood,  to  de- 
clare his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of 
sins  that  are  past,  that  God  might  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in  Je- 
sus." He  ^dews  him  as  "  the  King  in  Zion, 
the  head  oyer  all  things  to  his  church,"  the 
LoED  Jesus,  the  Loed  that  bought  him.  In 
Christ  the  behever  discovers  all  that  can 
qualify  him  to  be  a  Saviour,  and  all  that  can 
encourage  guilty,  miserable  man  to  trust  in 
his  grace.  In  him  he  beholds  One  that  is 
eminently  all-sufficient.  One  who  is  able,  will- 
ing, and  faithful  "  to  save  to  the  uttermost." 
He  receives  the  record  which  God  has  given 
of  his  Son. 

Sincere  love  to  the  character  of  Christ  is 
also  essential  to  the  nature  of  genuine  faith. 
It  is  as  impossible  to  "receive  and  rest  upon" 
a  being  whom  we  hate,  as  it  is  to  "  receive 
and  rest  upon"  one  that  we  do  not  know. 
Eaith  in  Christ  is  not  an  exercise  of  the  im- 
derstanding  merely ;  it  is  an  affection  of  the 
heart.   "  With  the  heart  man  beheveth."   "If 


FAITH.  lot 

tlioii  believest  luitli  all  thy  heart"  said  Philip 
to  tlie  euniicli,  "thou  ma  jest  be  baptized." 
To  those  who  believe,  Christ  is  precious.  The 
excellence  which  they  see  both  in  his  person 
and  in  his  work  they  love.  All  that  they 
know  of  Christ  they  love.  All  the  truth 
which  is  connected  with  the  character  and 
work  of  Christ  they  love.  They  possess  spir- 
itual discernment  of  his  divine  excellence. 
They  have  the  single  eye  that  discovers  his 
moral  beauty.  They  see  a  lovehness  in  Christ 
and  his  gospel  that  captivates  their  hearts. 
When  the  wandering  spouse  was  met  by  the 
watchmen  that  went  about  the  city,  and  ac- 
costed with  the  unexpected  inquiry,  "  What 
is  thy  beloved  more  than  another  beloved  ?" 
the  reply  was  at  hand :  "  My  beloved  is  the 
chief  among  ten  thousands,  he  is  altogether 
lovely."  Abraham  "  rejoiced  to  see  Christ's 
day,  and  he  saw  it,  and  was  glad."  The  pious 
psalmist  was  enraptured  with  a  view  of  his 
loveliness.  "  Thou  art  fairer,"  says  he,  "than 
the  children  of  men ;  grace  is  poured  into  thy 
hps,  therefore  God  hath  blessed  thee  for  ever." 
The  spirit  of  this  language  is  not  peculiar 
to  Da^id  or  Abraham.     In  the  dignity,  puri- 


108    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

ty,  and  amiableness  of  Christ's  character,  in 
the  design  of  his  mission,  and  in  the  way  of 
salvation  by  his  cross,  every  believer  sees 
enough  to  engage  his  sweetest  and  most  ex- 
alted affections. 

With  this  acquaintance  with  the  character, 
and  this  attachment  to  the  person  of  the  Ke- 
deemer,  the  believer  "receives  and  rests  upon 
him  alone  for  salvation,  as  he  is  offered  in  the 
gospel."  He  makes  an  impHcit  surrender  of 
his  immortal  soul  into  his  hands,  as  to  one 
who  is  both  able  and  faithful  to  save.  The 
yielding  up  of  the  soul  to  the  disposal  of 
Christ,  is  an  act  of  the  mind  which  cannot  be 
separated  fi'om  living  faith. 

It  is  of  some  importance  to  bear  in  mind, 
that  faith  is  the  act  of  a  lost  sinner  seeking 
dehverance  from  the  power  and  punishment 
of  sin  towards  a  being  who  is  exhibited  in 
the  character  of  a  Deliverer,  It  cannot  there- 
fore imply  less  than  an  application  of  the  soul 
to  him  who  is  the  dehvering  character,  the 
actual  adventuring  of  this  vast  concern  with 
him,  together  with  confidence  that  with  him  it 
will  be  secure.  Faith  receives  Christ;  it  rests 
upon  Christ  for  salvation ;  it  rests  upon  him 


FAITH.  109 

alone  for  salvation  as  he  is  offered  in  tlie 
gospel.  Sensible  of  his  ill-desert  and  help- 
lessness, persuaded  of  the  all-sufficiencj  of 
the  Redeemer,  the  believer  therefore  makes 
a  voluntary  surrender  of  himself  into  the 
hands  of  Christ,  to  be  saved  upon  his  own 
terms.  He  is  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
committing  his  cause  to  better  hands  than 
his  own.  He  relinquishes  his  vain  confiden- 
ces, and  places  all  his  hopes  on  Christ.  He 
casts  himself  into  his  arms.  "  Lord,  to  whom 
shall  I  go  but  to  thee  ?" 

In  the  act  of  surrendering  the  soul  into  the 
hands  of  Christ,  the  behever  takes  a  view  of 
the  great  Deliverer  which  is  as  deep  as  his 
own  wants,  and  as  large  as  the  provision  that 
is  made  to  supply  them.  He  receives  Christ 
as  his  Prophet,  his  Priest,  and  his  King. 

Is  he  ignorant — exposed  to  wander  from 
the  path  ?  The  great  Prophet  is  his  Teacher 
and  his  Guide.  "  The  meek  he  will  guide  in 
judgment;  the  meek  will  he  teach  his  way." 

Is  he  polluted  with  sin  ?  He  looks  to  the 
blood  of  the  spotless  sacrifice  to  be  cleansed 
from  aU  sin.  Jesus  Christ,  he  knows,  gave 
himself  for  his  church,  that  he  might  wash 


110    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

and  cleanse  it.  He  rests  on  Mm,  and  looks 
for  "the  sanctification  of  tlie  Spiiit  unto  obe- 
dience tKrough  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of 
Jesus." 

Is  he  guilty  and  condemned?  No  longer 
does  he  trust  to  his  own  righteousness,  but 
looks  to  Jesus  as  the  "  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth." 
He  yields  a  condemned  soul  to  him,  to  be 
arrayed  mth  a  righteousness  with  which  a 
just  God  has  declared  himseK  to  be  ever 
"  well  pleased."  He  rests  upon  him  as  the 
sole  ground  of  acceptance.  "With  all  his  nat- 
ural attachment  to  his  own  goodness,  he 
counts  it  loss  for  Christ.  "He  counts  it  but 
dung,  that  he  may  wm  Christ  and  be  found 
in  him,  not  having  his  own  righteousness, 
which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through 
the  faith  of  Christ,  the  righteousness  which 
is  of  God  by  faith."  This  is  his  refuge,  his 
crown  of  rejoicing.  He  looks  to  Jesus,  rec- 
ognizing the  high  relation  in  which  he  stands 
to  his  people,  and  the  endearing  name  by 
which  he  is  called,  "Jehovah  our  right- 
eousness." 

Is  he  weak  and  helpless  ?    He  engages  the 


FAITH.  Ill 

grace  of  the  Kecleemer  as  Lis  consolation 
and  strengtli.  To  Jesns  does  lie  surrender 
himself  as  the  head  of  all  divine  influences. 
"I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  that  livetli  in 
me."  This  is  the  language  of  faith.  The  act 
of  the  soul  in  surrendering  itseK  into  the 
hands  of  Christ,  forms  a  connecting  bond 
between  him  as  the  Yine  and  the  soul  as  the 
branches,  which  communicates  life,  strength, 
nourishment,  and  beauty.  In  a  word,  with 
a  just  view  of  the  character,  and  a  supreme 
attachment  to  the  person  of  Christ,  the  be- 
Hever  yields  himself  into  his  hands  as  a  full 
and  complete  Saviour.  Him  he  receives ; 
upon  him  he  rests,  and  rests  for  time  and 
eternity.  "With  humble  joy  will  he  tell  you, 
"  Christ  is  my  all.  I  want  no  more.  To  him 
do  I  look  to  be  sanctified  by  his  Spirit,  to  be 
governed  by  his  laws,  to  be  protected  by  his 
power,  to  be  saved  by  his  death,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  at  his  pleasure,  and  to  be  the  means 
of  promoting  his  glory." 

This  is  "to  receive  and  rest  upon  Christ 
alone  for  salvation,  as  he  is  offered  to  us  in 
the  gospel."  This  is  confidence  in  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  divine  Saviour.    You  cannot  pos- 


112    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

sess  tbese  feelings  without  possessing  sa^dng 
faith.  This  is  the  "  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,"  and  the  "evidence  of  things  not 
seen."  This  is  the  grace  which  renders  invis- 
ible things  visible,  future  things  present,  and 
enstamps  the  permanent  idea  of  reality  uj)on 
every  thing  that  rests  upon  the  testimony  of 
God.  Tliis  was  the  faith  of  Old  Testament 
saints  and  New  Testament  saints.  It  is  that 
trtist  in  the  Lord  of  wliich  we  read  so  often 
in  the  Old  Testament,  which  is  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  the  confidence  of  the  new-born 
soul  in  God,  as  reconcilable  through  the 
Mediator. 

Thus  have  we  seen  that  faith  has  proper- 
ties peculiar  to  itself.  Its  character  is  per- 
fectly distinct  from  every  other  grace.  There 
is  no  exercise  of  the  renewed  heart  that  views 
the  whole  gospel  jDlan  as  it  is  except  this. 
Faith,  from  its  essential  nature,  imphes  the 
fallen  state  of  man,  while  it  recognizes  the 
principles  of  the  covenant  of  grace.  It  is 
itseK  the  condition  of  that  covenant.  It  is  a 
grace  which  is  alike  distinguishable  from  the 
love  of  angels  and  the  faith  of  devils.  It  is 
pecuhar  to  the  returning  sinner.     None  but  a 


FAITH.  113 

lost  sinner  needs,  and  none  but  a  humbled 
sinner  relishes,  the  grand  sentiment  of  faith, 
that  "gTace  reigns  through  righteousness 
unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 
Here  then  let  the  reader  "examine  him- 
self whether  he  be  in  the  faith."  He  may 
possess  the  faith  of  devils.  He  may  be  fally 
persuaded  that  there  was  such  a  person  as 
Jesus  Christ;  that  he  was  "delivered  for  our 
offences,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification :" 
he  may  possess  the  vain  confidence  of  the 
hypocrite,  which  neither  "worketh  by  love," 
nor  is  "of  the  operation  of  God;"  he  may 
cherish  the  pernicious  hope  of  the  self-de- 
ceived, while  he  remains  blind  to  the  excel- 
lence of  the  divine  character,  and  while  enmi- 
ty to  the  cross  of  Christ  is  the  governing 
principle  of  his  heart  and  his  life.  Every  car- 
nal mind,  whether  sensible  of  it  or  not,  main- 
tains the  most  decided  aversion  to  the  person 
of  the  Eedeemer,  the  benefits  of  his  purchase, 
and  the  terms  upon  which  those  benefits  are 
proffered.  The  whole  character  and  work  of 
Christ  bear  so  intimate  a  relation  to  the  un- 
behever;  they  so  pointedly  take  the  part  of 
God  against  Mm;  they  so  unequivocally  con- 

Good  Hope.  8 


114    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

demn  his  character  and  conduct;  tliej  will 
have  such  a  damning  efficacy  upon  Mm 
throughout  eternal  ages,  that  when  clearly 
seen,  they  cannot  fail  to  draw  forth  the  latent 
enmity  of  his  heart. 

If  it  be  true,  as  it  unquestionably  is,  that 
you  may  have  intellectually  some  just  view 
of  the  character  of  Christ,  while  you  have  no 
love  to  that  character  as  infinitely  deserving 
your  affection,  and  while  you  make  no  sur- 
render of  yourseK  into  his  hands  as  to  one 
who  is  supremely  worthy  of  your  confidence, 
it  becomes  you  to  inquire  whether  you  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  in  sincerity  and  truth,  and 
whether  you  trust  in  liim  as  your  only  foun- 
dation of  hojDe. 

"  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  ?" 
Apply  the  question.  Do  you  love  Christ? 
And  why  do  you  love  him  ?  Do  you  love  him 
merely  because  he  died  to  save  you,  or  be- 
cause he  died  to  honor  God  in  your  salvation  ? 
Do  you  love  him  because  he  descended  fi-om 
heaven  to  take  the  part  of  God  against  man ; 
to  show  the  world  that  in  the  contest  between 
the  creatures  and  the  God  that  made  them, 
God  is  right  and  man  is  wrong,  and  with  his 


FAITH.  115 

own  blood  to  set  liis  seal  to  the  truth,  that 
the  soul  that  siuneth  ought  to  die  ?  Or  does 
he  appear  to  jou  on  this  account,  "  as  a  root 
out  of  a  dry  ground — as  having  no  form  nor 
comehness,  no  beauty  that  you  should  desire 
him?"  The  true  behever  loves  the  Lord 
Jesus  because  he  effects  his  eternal  salvation 
in  a  way  that  harmonizes  with  the  glory  of 
the  divine  character.  To  be  saved  in  a  way 
that  is  in  the  least  reproachful  to  that  glory, 
would  rob  heaven  of  its  sweetness.  It  is  for 
this  that  Jesus  Christ  is  so  precious  to  those 
that  beheve;  in  this,  that  he  is  eminently 
"  fairer  than  the  sons  of  men."  Do  you  love 
Jesus  for  the  divine  glories  of  his  person,  for 
the  excellence  of  his  hfe,  for  the  benefits  of 
his  death,  for  the  prevalence  of  his  interces- 
sion, for  his  resurrection,  his  dominion  over 
the  world,  and  his  office  as  the  supreme  and 
final  Judge  ?  Are  the  feelings  of  your  heart 
dra^TL  out  towards  Christ  as  your  chief  joy? 
Can  you  sit  down  under  his  shadow  with 
great  dehght,  and  find  his  fruit  sweet  to  your 
taste  ?  Wiien  affected  with  a  view  of  your 
lost  state  and  guilty  character,  when  bowed 
down  under  a  sense  of  sin,  does  Christ  ap- 


116         GOOD    HOPE   THROUGH    GRACE. 

pear  jrrecious?  Is  a  view  of  liim  refresh- 
ing? 

Do  Yon  receive  the  Lord  Jesus  and  rest 
upon  him  alone  for  salvation  ?  Can  you  take 
the  place  of  a  lost  and  hell-deserving  sinner, 
and  vrith.  a  broken,  contrite  heart,  make  an 
implicit  surrender  of  your  immortal  soul  into 
his  hands,  to  be  saved  upon  his  ovm.  terms  ? 
Beloved  reader,  this  is  a  plain  question. 
Every  humbled  heart,  in  the  exercise  of  faith, 
knows  how  to  answer  it.  Can  you  relinquish 
every  other  hope?  Can  you  adventure  this 
vast  concern  with  him  ? 

Can  you  receive  and  rest  upon  the  Lord 
Jesus  as  he  is  offered  in  the  gospel?  Are 
you  at  heart  reconciled  to  the  terms  of  the 
gospel  ?  Are  you  at  heart  reconciled  to  the 
humbling  doctrine  of  being  justified  by  faith 
in  the  righteousness  of  Christ  ?  It  is  a  doc- 
trine which,  if  correctly  understood,  wiU  be 
seen  to  reduce  the  returning  rebel  to  the 
lowest  point  of  humiliation.  To  a  heart  that 
is  invincibly  attached  to  rebellion,  it  is  hard 
to  bow.  To  one  who  is  naturally  attached 
to  his  OT\Ti  supposed  goodness,  it  is  hard  to 
renounce  it  aU,  and  desire  and  receive  mercy 


FAITH.  in 

only  for  the  sake  of  Clirist.  To  a  man  wlio 
loves  himself  supremely,  and  values  himself 
supremely,  who  has  cherished  the  most  ex- 
travagant notions  of  his  own  importance  fi^om 
the  womb,  it  is  hard  to  he  down  at  the  foot- 
stool of  sovereign  mercy.  It  is  cutting  in- 
deed to  the  pride  of  the  human  heart  to  be 
constrained  to  feel  that  we  are  guilty,  and 
then  forced  to  admit  that  there  is  no  pardon 
for  our  crimes  but  through  the  merit  of  an- 
other. Say,  reader,  is  thy  heart  bowed  to 
the  humbhng  terms  of  the  gospel  ?  Do  you 
dehght  to  take  your  place  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  and  while  reaching  forth  the  hand  to 
receive  the  robe  of  the  Saviour's  righteous- 
ness, to  shout,  Grace,  grace!  "Not  unto  me, 
O  Lord,  not  rmto  me,  but  unto  thy  name  be 
the  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  ti'uth's  sake?" 
If  so,  you  beheve.  If  so,  amid  all  your 
doubts  and  fears,  you  have  that  faith  which 
is  "  the  gift  of  God."  If  so,  you  may  hum- 
bly claim  the  promise.  Here  is  your  conso- 
lation, "He  that  beheveth  shall  be  saved." 
Yes,  sliall  he  saved  !  "What  more  has  God  to 
bestow;  what  more  can  the  creatiu'e  enjoy? 
Here  are  blessings  as  gTeat  as  the  capacity 


118    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

of  the  immortal  soul,  as  eternal  as  tlie  God 
that  engages  to  bestow  them.  In  the  com- 
prehensive promise  of  that  covenant  to  which 
faith  makes  you  a  party,  the  mysteries  of 
eternity  lie  concealed.  Life  and  death,  earth 
and  heaven,  things  present  and  to  come,  joys 
high,  immeasurable,  and  immortal  —  what 
shall  I  say?  "All  are  yours;  and  ye  are 
Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's." 


HUMILITY.  119 


9.  HUMILITY. 

"  In  the  school  of  Christ,"  says  the  devout 
Archbishop  Leighton,  "  the  first  lesson  of  all 
is  humility ;  yea,  it  is  written  above  the  door 
as  the  rule  of  entry  or  admission.  Learn  of 
me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  hearth  Hu- 
mility is  a  grace  that  is  nearly  allied  to 
repentance.  Repentance  respects  the  nature 
and  aggravation  of  sin ;  humility  respects  the 
person  and  charaoter  of  the  sinner.  Humil- 
ity consists  in  a  just  view  of  our  own  charac- 
ter, and  in  the  disposition  to  abase  ourselves 
as  low  as  the  vileness  of  our  <iharacter  re- 
ciuires. 

A  just  view  of  our  own  character  is  a  view 
of  it  as  it  actually  is.  The  pride  of  the  hu- 
man heart  naturally  casts  a  veil  over  the 
character  of  man,  and  aims  to  conceal  his 
worthlessness  as  a  creature,  and  his  deform- 
ity as  a  sinner.  Tlie  humihty  of  the  gospel 
natui'ally  throws  aside  the  veil,  and  discovers 
that  native  worthlessness  which  ought  to 
sink  the  creature  in  the  dust,  and  that  moral 


120    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

deformity  whicli  oiiglit  to  cover  the  sinner 
with  confusion.  Genuine  hnmihty  is  insep- 
arably connected  Tvdth  a  sense  of  our  depend- 
ence, of  our  imworthiness,  and  of  oiu'  ill- 
desert. 

Although  dependence,  absolute  and  uni- 
versal, is  necessarily  attached  to  the  very 
being  of  creatures,  yet  a  sense  of  this  depend- 
ence is  a  most  unwelcome  visitant  to  the  un- 
humbled  heart.  The  spirit  of  the  carnal 
mind  is  an  independent  spirit.  It  is  a  S2:)irit 
in  which  the  pride  of  man  glories.  Though 
men  are  creatures  of  yesterda}^,  and  know 
nothing ;  though  they  are  upheld  by  the  vis- 
itation of  God's  arm,  and  supplied  by  the 
beneficence  of  his  hand,  they  have  no  appre- 
hension that  they  actually  "live  and  move 
and  have  their  being  in  him."  An  abiding 
sense  of  his  universal  presence  is  what  they 
cannot  bear  to  cherish. 

But  a  sense  of  perfect  dependence  is  a 
grateful  guest  to  the  broken  and  contrite 
heart.  To  a  humbled  sinner,  it  is  sweet  to 
feel  that  he  is  absolutely  dependent  on  God 
for  all  that  he  is  and  all  that  he  has.  He  is 
sensible  that  he  is  nothing — that  he  is  "a 


HUMILITY.  121 

worm,  and  no  man."  He  realizes  that  God 
is  eyeryTv^hiere,  and  tliat  worms  and  seraphs 
are  ahke  at  his  disposal.  He  feels  with  Panl, 
that  "  he  is  not  sufficient  of  himself  to  think 
any  thing  as  of  himself,  but  his  sufficiency  is 
of  God."  Does  he  enjoy  signal  favors?  he 
calls  to  mind  that  he  enjoys  nothing  that  he 
has  not  received.  Life,  health,  as  well  as  the 
blessings  of  both,  he  sees  flowing  through  a 
thousand  channels  from  the  same  exuberant 
source.  As  the  child  hangs  upon  the  kind- 
ness of  its  parent,  or  as  the  abject  poor  de- 
pend on  the  daily  bounty  of  their  fellow-men, 
so  do  the  poor  in  spirit,  conscious  of  their 
helplessness,  wait  only  upon  God,  for  their 
expectation  is  from  him. 

With  a  sense  of  their  dependence,  the  hum- 
ble unite  a  conviction  of  their  unworthiness. 
They  are  unworthy ;  and  they  feel  that  they 
are  so.  They  are  sensible  that  they  are  sin- 
ners. They  have  seen  the  plague  of  their 
own  hearts.  They  know  at  best  they  are 
unprofitable  servants ;  and  at  best  ought  to 
be  for  ever  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  theii; 
imworthiness.  Merit  they  have  none.  De- 
sert of  good  is  not  in  all  their  thoughts. 
6 


122    GOOD  HOPE  THEODGH  GEACE. 

"Who  am  I,"  exclaimed  the  king  of  Israel, 
"AVho  am  I,  O  Lord  God,  and  what  is  my 
father's  house,  that  thou  hast  bronght  me 
hitherto  ?  I  am  not  worthy,"  said  the  hum- 
ble patriarch,  "  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least 
of  all  the  mercies,  and  of  all  the  truth  which 
thou  hast  showed  unto  thy  servant."  The 
people  of  God  need  not  be  told  that  they 
have  forfeited  every  favor.  Much  as  they 
need  the  divine  compassion,  they  are  sensi- 
ble that  they  do  not,  and  cannot  deserve  it. 
Often  as  they  seek  the  divine  face  and  favor, 
they  do  not  seek  them  as  the  reward  of  per- 
sonal worthiness.  They  turn  their  thoughts 
inward,  and  see  and  feel  that  they  are  "  less 
than  the  least  of  all  saints."  They  are  mere 
pensioners  upon  sovereign  mercy.  There 
was  no  distinguishing  excellence  in  them, 
that  made  them  the  objects  of  favor ;  there 
was  not  the  shadow  of  difference  in  charac- 
ter, which  operated  as  a  reason  why  God 
should  regard  them  with  the  sjoecial  tokens 
of  his  love,  rather  than  the  most  abandoned 
Avretch  that  ever  lived.  "  Behold,  I  am  vile  ! 
Grace  hath  made  me  to  differ."  When  they 
seek  the  presence  of  God,  they  do  it  with  the 


HUMILITY.  123 

humble  spirit  of  tlie  centurion  :  "  Lord,  I  am 
not  tfortJiy  that  thou  shouldest  come  under 
my  roof."  When  they  cast  themselves  upon 
the  care  of  their  heavenly  Father,  it  is  mth 
the  spirit  of  the  prodigal:  "Father,  I  have 
sinned  against  heaven,  and  in  thy  sight,  and 
am  no  more  ivortliy  to  be  called  thy  son." 

In  the  humble  heart,  a  sense  of  depend- 
ence and  unworthiness  is  also  connected 
with  a  sense  of  ill-desert.  Humility  holds  up 
to  view  the  bright  mirror  of  God's  holy  law. 
From  this  faithful  glass,  the  character  of 
man  is  reflected  in  all  its  native  deformity. 
Here  there  is  no  deception.  The  merit  and 
demerit  of  character  are  determinately  fixed 
by  this  impartial  standard.  Here  God  has 
exhibited  his  right  and  our  obligation,  his 
righteousness  and  our  ill-desert.  Weighed 
in  this  unerring  balance,  the  character  of 
man  is  found  wanting.  It  is  the  character 
of  a  transgressor.  It  is  the  character  of  a 
rebel  against  the  King  of  heaven ;  a  charac- 
ter which  is  condemned  and  cursed,  and  in 
its  own  detestable  nature  deserving  everlast- 
ing wrath. 

Unfeigned  humility  prompts  a  man  to  view 


124    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

his  cliaracter  as  base,  and  liimself  as  ill-de- 
serving, as  the  law  of  God  views  them.  The 
humbled  heart  knows  that  "  the  law  is  holj, 
and  the  commandment  holy,  just,  and  good." 
He  not  only  feels  that  "  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death,"  but  approves  the  law  which  threat- 
ens him  with  death  for  every  transgression. 
He  not  only  sees  that  sin  and  gTiilt  are  insep- 
arably connected,  but  approves  of  the  Law- 
giver for  hating  and  punishing  sin  according 
to  its  desert.  He  prostrates  himself  in  the 
dust,  and  exalts  God  on  the  throne.  He 
takes  his  proper  place  at  the  footstool  of 
God's  amiable  and  awful  sovereignty.  He 
knows  that  he  ought  to  lie  as  low  as  vindic- 
tive justice  can  reduce  him.  He  feels  that 
"  it  is  of  the  Lord's  mercies  that  he  is  not 
consumed."  Such  is  his  sense  of  ill-desert, 
that  he  not  only  feels  that  he  is  justly  con- 
demned, but  magnifies  the  justice  that  con- 
demns him,  while  he  adores  the  grace  that 
rescues  him  from  the  condemnation. 

Such  is  the  view  which  the  humble  man 
takes  of  his  own  character.  This  is  to  "  think 
soberly  of  himself,  and  as  he  ought  to  think." 
This  is  to  have  just  views  of  his  otvti  charac- 


HUMILITY.  125 

ter,  and  voluntarily  to  abase  liimseK  as  low 
as  the  vileness  of  his  character  requires  him 
to  He.  This  is  the  disposition  with  which  he 
renounces  his  own  righteousness,  and  rehes 
on  the  righteousness  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Once  the  humble  man  thought  little  of  his 
own  vileness ;  now,  a  sense  of  his  vileness 
covers  him  with  shame.  Once  he  thought 
himself  "  rich  and  increased  with  goods,  and 
in  need  of  nothing ;"  now,  he  sees  and  feels 
that  he  is  "wretched,  and  miserable,  and 
poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  Once  he  was 
too  proud  to  become  a  beggar ;  now,  he  begs 
for  mere?/— begs  with  hope  and  with  joy  in 
the  name  of  Jesus. 

This  is  the  disposition  that  is  interwoven 
with  his  experience  and  his  conduct.  It 
manifests  itself  both  towards  God,  and  tow- 
ards man.  Especially  does  it  manifest  itself 
towards  God.  When  thinking  of  God,  when 
beholding  his  glorious  perfections,  when  re- 
joicing in  the  perfection  of  his  government, 
and  in  the  excellence  of  his  designs,  the 
humble  heart  adopts  the  language  of  Job : 
"  I  have  heard  of  thee  by  the  hearing  of  the 
ear,  but  now  mine  eye  seeth  thee ;  where- 


126         GOOD    HOPE    THBOUGII    GRACE. 

fore  I  ablior  myself,  and  repent  in  dust  and 
asLes."  "^Mien  thinking  of  God,  lie  feels  the 
weight  of  obhgation  to  love  and  serve  him 
with  all  the  heart.  Hence  he  is  borne  down 
under  a  sense  of  his  inexcusable  deficiencies. 
A  view  of  his  corruption  keeps  him  near  to 
the  earth.  He  is  ashamed  that  he  is  no 
more  holy.  How  often  is  he  constrained  to 
exclaim,  "  0  wretched  man  that  I  am  !  Can 
it  be  that  one  who  knows  no  more  of  the  love 
of  God,  who  is  no  more  conformed  to  his 
image,  is  in  truth  his  own  dear  child?"  He 
desires  to  divest  himself  of  all  his  pride ;  to 
empty  himself ;  to  feel  as  nothing,  and  be  as 
nothing  and  vanity. 

In  the  more  immediate  presence  of  God, 
the  humble  Christian  remembers  that  he  is  a 
redeemed  sinner.  When  approaching  the 
mercy-seat,  he  takes  the  place  of  a  broken- 
hearted beggar.  He  goes  to  the  God  of  all 
grace  hke  a  man  who  knows  that  he  deserves 
to  sink  into  hell.  He  is  ready  to  bow  low 
before  Christ;  to  "wash  his  feet  with  his 
tears,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  hair  of  his, 
head."  Like  the  woman  of  Canaan,  he  begs 
for  the  crumbs  of  divine  mercy.     He  does 


HUMILITY.  12*T 

not  desire  to  plead  his  own  merit,  but  mtli 
a  bosom  bleeding  for  sin,  and  an  eje  cast 
down  to  tlie  earth,  makes  mention  of  the 
name  of  Jesus.  Though  at  times  he  is 
ashamed  to  approach  the  throne — though  he 
hardly  dare  approach — yet  hke  the  pubh- 
can,  standing  afar  off  and  not  so  much  as  lift- 
ing up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  he  "  smites  upon 
his  breast,  saying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner."  His  most  favored  moments  are 
those  in  which  he  is  enabled  to  He  low  be- 
fore a  holy  God,  and  in  which  he  has  increas- 
ing desires  to  be  kept  humble  to  the  end  of 
his  days. 

This  humble  temper  of  mind  also  naturally 
flows  forth  in  his  intercoiu"se  with  his  fellow- 
men.  It  is  true,  that  some  good  men  have 
vastly  more  native  haughtiness,  vastly  more 
of  the  overbearing  spiiit  of  the  carnal  man 
to  struggle  with,  than  others.  Notwithstand- 
ing this,  real  Christians  are  humble,  and  their 
humihty  vnR  necessarily  express  itself  in  the 
modesty  and  meekness  of  their  habitual  de- 
portment. "Let  nothing,"  says  the  apostle, 
"  be  done  through  strife  or  vain-glory,  but  in 
lowliness  of  mind  let  each  esteem  other  bet- 


128    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

ter  than  themselves."  The  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity is  congenial  vnth.  its  precepts,  though 
it  is  not  in  the  present  life  perfectly  con- 
formed to  them.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
"in  honor  preferrmg  one  another,"  though 
we  may  sometimes  be  led  to  imagine  that 
there  is  not  much  of  it  visible.  There  is 
such  a  spiiit,  and  however  those  who  indulge 
the  hope  of  theii'  good  estate  may  be  dis- 
posed to  shrink  fi^om  the  test,  such  is  the 
spuit  of  all  Christians. 

"  Charity,"  saith  the  apostle,  "  vaunteth 
not  itself,  is  not  j)uffed  up,  doth  not  be- 
have itself  unseemly."  "With  a  humble  frame 
of  mind,  a  man  will  set  a  due  value  upon  his 
own  attainments.  He  will  not  be  apt  to 
think  highly  of  his  o^\ti  virtues,  nor  consider 
himself  injured  if  he  is  not  highly  esteemed 
by  others.  It  is  difficult  for  an  unhumbled, 
seK-righteous  man  not  to  betray  his  hypocri- 
sy by  being  proud  of  his  supposed  self-abase- 
ment. He  has  much  to  say  of  his  frames 
and  experiences ;  much  to  boast  of  the  abas- 
ing views  which  he  has  had  of  himself,  and 
the  wonderful  discoveries  in  divine  things 
mth  which  he  has  been  favored.     But  the 


HUMILITY.  129 

truly  Immble  soul  desires  more  to  be  humble, 
tlian  to  appear  humble.  It  is  no  part  of  his 
character  to  make  great  pretences  to  humil- 
ity. There  are  indeed  seasons  when  he  is 
favored  with  unusual  manifestations  of  the 
divine  glory,  and  abasing  views  of  his  own 
vileness.  And  he  sometimes  speaks  of  them. 
With  modesty  he  may  speak  of  them.  He  is 
not  freed  from  the  duty,  nor  dej)rived  of  the 
privilege  of  teUing  what  the  Lord  has  done 
for  his  soul,  merely  because  the  world  may 
brand  him  with  the  name  of  Pharisee.  But 
when  he  does  it,  it  is  that  he  may  strengthen 
the  weak,  refresh  the  weary,  cheer  the  de- 
sponding, and  give  honor  to  divine  grace. 
He  does  it  not  boastingly,  not  with  the  lan- 
guage, "  God,  I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as 
other  men !"  but  with  the  spirit  that  esteems 
others  better  than  himself.  He  knows  that 
he  has  nothing  to  be  proud  of;  and  that  if 
he  is  made  to  differ  from  others,  it  becomes 
him  to  adopt  the  language  of  the  Psalmist 
rather  than  that  of  the  Pharisee  :  "  Not  imto 
me,  O  Lord,  not  unto  me,  but  unto  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy,  and  for  thy  truth's 
sake !" 

Good  Hope.  9 


130    GOOD  HOrE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

Sometliing  like  tliis  is  the  spirit  of  the  gos- 
pel. A  sense  of  dependence,  of  tinwortliiness, 
and  of  Ul-desert,  manifesting  itself  both  tow- 
ards God  and  towards  man,  is  the  spirit  of 
humihty.  When  the  Christian,  "  as  the  elect 
of  God,  pnts  on  bowels  of  mercies,  kindness, 
humbleness  of  mind,  meekness,  long-suffer- 
ing," then  he  exhibits  the  power  and  sweet- 
ness of  vital  rehgion.  Seated  in  the  lowest 
place,  and  clothed  with  humility,  he  exhibits 
some  degTee  of  the  amiableness  of  his  divine 
]\Iaster.  Well  may  we  call  humility  a  heav- 
en-born grace.  She  is  indeed  the  daughter 
of  the  skies,  the  "  meek-eyed  child  of  Jesus," 
and  dwells  only  with  him  who,  Like  herself, 
is  born  from  above. 

Here  then  you  have  a  rule  of  trial.  The 
spirit  of  humihty  is  conclusive  evidence  of 
vital  godliness.  It  enters  into  the  essence  of 
rehgion.  Here  the  new  nature  eminently 
discovers  itself.  The  humble  spirit  is  that 
child-hke,  Christ-like  temper,  which  is  exclu- 
sively the  effect  of  the  almighty  power  of 
God  upon  the  heart. 

Can  the  reader  lay  his  hand  upon  his  heart, 
and  say  that  he  is  conscious  of  this  heavenly 


HUMILITY.  131 

temper  of  mind  ?  Can  he  in  tlie  sincerity  of 
his  soul,  say  that  he  is  conscious  of  this  spirit 
of  voluntary  self-abasement?  Did  he  ever, 
and  does  he  still,  take  a  just  view  of  his  own 
character ;  and  does  he  possess  the  dispo- 
sition voluntarily  to  abase  himself  as  low  as 
the  vileness  of  his  character  requires  him 
to  lie,? 

Do  you  cherish  a  conviction  of  your  de- 
pendence ;  or  do  you  hve  "  without  God  in 
the  world?"  Do  you  live  from  day  to  day, 
and  from  year  to  year,  reahzing  the  relation 
which  you  bear  to  the  great  First  Cause? 
Do  you  delight  to  feel  that  God  sees  you, 
and  upholds  you,  and  governs  you ;  or  do 
you  banish  a  sense  of  your  perfect  depend- 
ence upon  him,  and  feel  and  act  as  though 
God  had  no  concern  with  you,  and  you  had 
no  concern  with  him  ? 

Do  you  cherish  a  sense  of  your  great  un- 
worthmess  and  ill-desert  ?  Do  you  feel  your- 
self to  be  a  vile  and  hateful  sinner  ?  -  "What 
if  others  should  esteem  you  according  to  the 
vileness  of  your  character,  would  you  not 
view  yourself  injured  ?  If  God  should  esteem 
you  and  treat  you  according  to  the  vileness 


132    GOOD  HOrE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

of  your  character,  would  yon  not  think  it 
hard  and  unjust?  Should  you  not  murmur 
and  complain  ? 

Is  the  humble  temper  of  the  gospel  inter- 
woven T\dth  your  religious  experience?  A 
savor  of  humility  is  diffused  throughout  all 
the  Christian  graces.  "  Christian  affections," 
says  the  immortal  Edwards,  "  Christian  iiffec- 
tions  are  like  Mary's  precious  ointment  that 
she  poured  on  Christ's  head,  that  filled  the 
whole  house  with  a  sweet  odor.  It  was 
poured  out  of  a  hrol'en  box  ;  till  the  box  was 
broken,  the  ointment  could  not  flow.  So 
gracious  affections  flow  out  of  a  hroken  heart. 
Gracious  affections  are  also  like  those  of 
Mary  Magdalene,  who  also  pours  precious 
ointment  on  Christ  out  of  a  broken  alabaster 
box,  anointing  therewith  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
when  she  had  washed  them  with  her  tears, 
and  wiped  them  with  the  hair  of  her  head. 
AU  gracious  affections  that  are  a  sweet  odor 
to  Christ,  and  that  fill  the  soul  of  a  Christian 
with  a  heavenly  sweetness  and  fragrancy, 
are  broken-hearted  affections.  A  truly  Chris- 
tian love,  either  to  God  or  men,  is  a  humble, 
broken-hearted    love.      The    desires   of   the 


HUMILITY.  133 

saints,  however  earnest,  are  Inimble  desires. 
Their  hope  is  a  humble  hope,  and  their  joy, 
even  when  it  is  'unspeakable  and  fall  of 
glory,'  is  a  humble,  broken-hearted  joy,  and 
leaves  the  Christian  more  poor  in  spirit,  and 
more  like  a  Httle  child,  and  more  disposed 
to  an  universal  lowhness  of  behavior."* 

Is  the  humble  spiiit  of  the  gospel  also  in- 
woven with  your  habitual  deportment  ?  Are 
you  habitually  disposed  to  esteem  others  bet- 
ter than  yourself ;  or  to  esteem  yourself  bet- 
ter than  others?  Do  you  rejoice  to  see 
others  of  equal  merit  with  yourself,  as  much 
beloved  and  honored  as  you  are?  And  if 
their  merit  exceeds  your  own,  are  you  wiUing 
to  see  them  more  beloved  and  honored  than 
you  are  ?  Or  are  you  for  ever  restless  and 
dissatisfied  because  you  are  not  more  be- 
loved and  honored  than  everybody  else  ?  Do 
you  "  love  the  praise  of  men  more  than  the 
praise  of  God  ?"  "  How  can  ye  believe,"  saith 
■the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  "  How  can  ye  be- 
heve,  which  receive  honor  one  of  another,  and 
seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh  from  God 
only?" 

*  Edwards  on  the  Afifections. 


134    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

In  the  character  of  a  Christian,  humility  is 
the  one  tldng  needful.  Where  this  is  wanting, 
all  is  wanting.  A  proud,  haughty  spirit  is 
inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  It 
is  the  genius  of  that  gospel,  it  is  one  grand 
design  of  aU  the  dispensations  of  grace  tow- 
ards fallen  man,  to  exalt  him  to  glory  by 
first  humbhng  him  in  the  dust.  "  He  that 
exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  and  he  that 
humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted." 

Does  the  reader  indulge  the  hope  of  hav- 
ing made  his  peace  with  God?  Let  him 
remember,  that  God  is  at  peace  with  none, 
except  the  humble  and  contrite.  "  He  hfteth 
up  the  meek,  but  casteth  the  wicked  do^Ti 
to  the  ground."  No  matter  what  are  your 
professions ;  no  matter  how  high  your  sup- 
posed attainments ;  if  you  have  never  felt 
the  contrition  of  a  broken  heart,  you  have 
never  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious.  Still, 
you  are  not  to  reject  the  ho23e  of  your  good 
estate  because  you  find  much  of  the  spirit  of 
pride  within  you.  Alas,  how  much  of  this 
detestable  spii'it  have  the  best  of  God's  peo- 
ple !  With  this  enemy  wiU  be  our  longest 
and  severest  conflict.    It  possesses  so  much 


HUMILITY.  135 

of  tlie  cunning  of  tlie  serpent,  that  it  is  per- 
haps less  easily  detected  than  any  other  form 
of  depravity.  When  you  have  mortified  it  in 
one  shape,  you  will  find  that  it  rises  in  an- 
other ;  and  when  you  fondly  hope  it  is  dead, 
you  will  find  that  it  has  been  secretly  gath- 
ering strength,  to  commence  the  attack  with 
new  vigor,  fresh  courage,  and  perhaps  greater 
success.  Pride  will  live  until  the  Old  Man 
is  dead.  It  is  the  "ulcerated  part  of  the 
body  of  sin  and  death."  It  is  the  main- 
si^ring  to  all  the  obstructions  which  impede 
our  progress  towards  heaven.  It  is  the  se- 
cret avenue  through  which  the  tempter  too 
often  enters  and  leads  the  best  of  men  astray. 
It  is  the  "  great  inlet  of  the  smoke  from  the 
bottomless  pit,"  which  darkens  the  mind, 
casts  a  gloom  around  their  fairest  prospects, 
and  sometimes  leaves  them  a  while  in  the 
gloom  of  despondency.  With  this  enemy 
will  be  your  longest  and  severest  conflict. 
Put  on  therefore  the  whole  armor  of  God, 
and  watch  unto  prayer.  The  clashings  of 
pride  and  humihty  should  often  drive  the 
Christian  to  the  throne  of  grace.  "  Who  can 
understand  his   errors?     Cleanse   thou  me 


136        GOOD    HOTE    THROUGH    GRACE. 

from  secret  faults."  Yon  may  have  much 
pride ;  but  liave  you  any  humility  ?  Be  not 
deceived.  "Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his 
own  conceit  ?  There  is  more  hope  of  a  fool 
than  of  him."  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit ;  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 


SELF-DENIAL.  13t 


10.  SELF-DENIAL. 

Feom  the  formation  of  the  first  angel  of 
light,  clown  to  the  period  when  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away  as  a  scroll,  the  Creator  of 
the  ends  of  the  earth  had  his  eye  steadfastly 
fixed  on  the  same  grand  object.  As  all  things 
are  of  him,  so  all  will  be  to  him.  He  who 
made  all  things  for  himself,  cannot  fail  to 
pursue  the  end  for  which  he  made  them,  and 
to  obtain  it  at  last.  When  the  proceedings 
of  the  last  day  shall  have  been  closed ;  when 
the  assembled  worlds  shall  have  entered  upon 
the  unvarying  retributions  of  eternity ;  when 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  have  passed 
away,  and  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth — 
the  holy  city,  the  new  Jerusalem — shall  have 
come  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  "He 
that  sitteth  upon  the  throne  shall  say.  It  is 
done.  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning 
and  the  end."  In  the  winding  up  of  the 
scene,  it  will  appear  that  God  himself  is  the 
first  and  the  last;  not  merely  the  efficient, 


138    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

but  tlie  final  cause  of  all  things.  The  vast 
plan,  which  has  for  its  object  nothing  less 
than  the  brightest  manifestation  of  the  di- 
vine glorj,  has  an  inahenable  right  to  the 
most  unreserved  devotedness  of  every  intel- 
ligent being.  To  the  advancement  of  this 
plan  God  therefore  requires  every  intelligent 
being  to  be  voluntarily  subser\dent.  All  the 
strength  and  ardor  of  affection  which  we  are 
capable  of  exercising  must  be  concentrated 
here.  Every  faculty,  every  thought,  every 
vohtion,  every  design,  must  be  devoted  to 
this  great  cause.  The  injunction  is  explicit : 
"  Whether  therefore  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  what- 
soever ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 
Now  the  heart  of  depraved  man  is  obsti- 
nately averse  to  such  a  course  of  feehngs  and 
conduct.  Instead  of  being  supremely  attach- 
ed to  God  and  the  good  of  his  kingdom,  men 
are  by  nature  "  lovers  of  their  ovm  selves." 
Hence  there  is  a  controversy  between  man 
and  his  Maker.  God  requires  men  to  regard 
his  glory  as  the  great  object  of  their  affec- 
tions, and  the  ultimate  end  of  their  conduct ; 
but  they  disregard  liis  requisitions,  and  in  all 
their  feelings  and  conduct  have  respect  ulti- 


SELF-DENIAL.  139 

mateljto  themselves.  This  controversy  draws 
the  line  of  distinction  between  friends  and 
foes.  As  the  spirit  of  self-advancement  is  the 
root  of  all  sin,  so  the  spiiit  of  self-denial  is 
the  root  of  all  holiness. 

Self-denial  consists  in  the  voluntary  renun- 
ciation of  every  thing  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  glory  of  God  and  the  highest  good 
of  our  fellow-men.  It  does  not  imply  the  vol- 
untary renunciation  of  good  or  the  voluntary 
toleration  of  evil  as  bemg  desirable  in  them- 
selves considered,  though  it  does  imply  both  as 
being  desirable,  all  things  considered.  There 
is  no  absurdity  in  the  proposition  that  a  thing 
may  be  very  unpleasant  in  its  own  nature, 
but  taking  all  things  into  view  may  be  very 
desirable.  It  is  perfectly  consistent  for  men 
to  desire  to  enjoy  themselves,  and  yet  desire 
to  deny  themselves ;  to  hate  misery,  and  yet 
be  wiUing  to  suffer  it.  Neither  does  it  imply 
the  renunciation  of  all  regard  to  one's  self. 
The  desire  of  happiness  and  the  aversion  to 
misery  are  inseparable  from  human  nature. 
The  natural  principle  of  self-love  does  not 
constitute  the  sin  of  selfishness.  A  man  may 
have  a  due  regard  to  his  own  happiness  with- 


140    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

out  being  supremely  selfish.  There  is  no 
moral  turpitude  in  being  influenced  by  the 
anticipation  of  good  or  the  apprehension  of 
e^-il,  provided  I  am  not  influenced  by  these 
considerations  supremely.  There  is  no  sin 
in  regarding  my  own  interest,  provided  I  do 
not  put  a  higher  estimate  upon  it  than  it  vdU 
bear.  The  evil  lies  in  -sdewing  it  of  greater 
moment  than  it  is ;  in  making  every  thing 
subservient  to  myself,  and  myself  subservient 
to  nothing. 

Self-denial  is  diametrically  opposite  to  su- 
preme selfishness.  "  Selfishness,"  says  Dr. 
Owen,  "is  the  making  a  man's  self  his  own 
centre,  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  that  he 
doeth."  It  is  difficult,  with  the  Bible  in  our 
hands,  or  upon  the  principles  of  sound  phi- 
losophy, not  to  acknowledge  the  distinction 
between  affections  that  are  supremely  selfish 
and  truly  disinterested  to  be  both  plain  and 
important.  There  is  no  need  of  the  aid  of 
metaphysical  discussion  to  establish  the  prop- 
osition that  no  man  ought  to  regard  his  own 
happiness  more  than  every  thing  else,  and 
that  the  man  who  does  possesses  none  of  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel.     The  affections  of  men 


SELF-DENIAL.  141 

must  be  placed  on  some  one  object  that  is 
paramount  to  every  other.  Two  objects  of 
supreme  delight  there  cannot  be.  Two  par- 
amount principles  of  action  there  cannot  be. 
There  is  no  intermediate  object  between  God 
and  self  that  can  draw  forth  the  highest  and 
strongest  affections  of  the  soul.  As  there  is 
"no  such  thing  as  a  creature's  going  out  of 
himself  without  rising  as  high  as  the  glory 
of  God,"  so  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  crea- 
ture's going  out  of  God  without  descending 
as  low  as  himself.  Other  objects  may  be 
loved ;  but  if  they  are  not  loved  merely  as 
the  means  of  self-gratification,  they  are  not 
loved  supremely.  Affections  that  do  not 
terminate  on  God,  terminate  on  self.  Men 
who  do  not  "  seek  the  things  that  are  Jesus 
Christ's,"  seek  their  oivn.  Inordinate  self- 
love  is  the  ruling  passion  of  their  hearts  and 
the  governing  principle  of  their  lives.  They 
love  themselves,  not  as  they  ought  to  love 
themselves,  but  supremely.  They  set  up 
their  own  private  good  as  the  highest  object 
of  desire  and  pursuit.  Their  affections  oper- 
ate in  a  very  narrow  circle.  They  have  no 
ultimate  regard  but  to  themselves.      They 


142    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

have  but  one  interest,  and  that  is  tlieir  own. 
A  supreme  regard  to  tlieir  own  liappiness  is 
the  mainspring  of  all  that  they  do  for  God, 
of  aU  that  they  do  for  themselves,  and  all 
that  they  do  for  their  fellow-men. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  with  this  spirit 
Christian  self-denial  has  no  communion.  The 
nature  of  this  heavenly  grace  is  expansive. 
It  is  the  result  of  a  supreme  attachment  to  a 
higher  interest  than  our  own.  It  Hghts  on 
self,  but  does  not  terminate  on  self.  It  stops 
at  nothing  short  of  the  highest  good ;  and  in 
pursuing  that,  terminates  on  an  object  large 
enough  to  gratify  the  strongest  desires  of  the 
most  benevolent  mind.  He  who  is  not  a 
stranger  to  the  spirit  of  self-denial,  has 
learned  to  make  his  own  interest  bend  to  the 
interest  of  God's  kingdom,  and  that  from  su- 
preme regard  to  the  interest  of  God's  king- 
dom, and  not  from  supreme  regard  to  him- 
self. The  glory  of  God  is  the  great  end  of 
his  conduct.  It  is  his  great  concern  that  God 
should  be  glorified,  that  his  laws  should  be 
obeyed,  his  gospel  loved,  and  the  highest  in- 
terest of  his  infinitely  extended  kingdom  pre- 
vail and  triumph.    Once  he  denied  Christ  for 


SELF-DENIAL.  143 

liimself,  now  he  denies  himself  for  Christ. 
Once  he  lived  to  himself,  now  he  lives  to 
God.  No  duty  is  so  hard  that  he  is  not  will- 
ing and  resolved  to  perform,  no  sin  so  sweet 
that  he  is  not  willing  and  resolved  to  forsake. 
He  takes  np  the  cross  at  the  hazard  of  ever}' 
thing.  Nothing  is  too  dear  to  give  to  Christ, 
nothing  too  great  to  be  cheerfully  sacrificed 
for  the  promotion  of  his  glory.  Such  is  the 
disposition  of  good  men,  that  they  place  their 
happiness  in  the  glory  of  God  and  the  pros- 
perity of  his  kingdom.  They  delight  in  this, 
in  itself  considered.  They  love  and  pursue 
this  for  what  it  is  in  itself  considered,  and 
not  merely  for  the  happiness  which  will  re- 
sult to  them  from  pursuing  it.  And  the  S23irit 
of  disinterestedness  will  irresistibly  impel 
them  to  do  so.  The  glory  of  God  the  Chris- 
tian must  seek.  Seeking  this,  he  cannot  be 
miserable;  not  seeking  this,  he  cannot  be 
happy.  He  knows  he  is  but  a  point  in  the 
universe  of  God,  "an  atom  in  the  sum  of  be- 
ing," a  single  member  of  Christ's  mystical 
body,  and  is  willing  that  God  should  hft  him 
up  or  cast  him  down  at  his  pleasure.  His 
own  advancement  is  as  a  feather,  a  nothing, 


144    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

when  put  iii  the  balance  against  the  honor  of 
Christ  and  the  good  of  his  kingdom. 

Such  is  the  spirit  of  seK-denial.  It  is  the 
result  of  a  calm,  dehberate,  invincible  attach- 
ment to  the  highest  good,  flov^-ing  forth  in  the 
voluntary  renunciation  of  every  thing  that  is 
inconsistent  mth  the  glory  of  God  and  the 
good  of  our  fellow-men. 

That  this  is  the  scriptural  idea  of  self-de- 
nial, it  would  be  easy  to  illustrate  by  a  mul- 
titude of  examples.  This  is  the  elevated 
spirit  that  prompted  the  father  of  the  faith- 
fal  to  offer  up  the  son  of  -promise,  that  bore 
the  three  worthies  of  Babylon  to  the  burning 
fiery  furnace,  and  that  led  the  apostles  and 
martyrs  to  glory  in  tribulation.  It  has  borne 
the  test  of  ridicule  and  reproach,  stood  un- 
daunted before  the  scourge  and  the  prison, 
triumphed  amid  the  light  of  the  fagot,  and 
smiled  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  This  is  the 
spirit  which  shone  Tvdth  such  signal  lustre  in 
the  sufferings  and  death  of  our  blessed  Lord. 
It  was  eminently  the  characteristic  of  this 
divine  personage,  that  in  all  he  did  and  suf- 
fered "he  pleased  not  himself."  He  sought 
"not  his  own  glory,"  but  the  glory  of  the 


SELF-DENIAL.  145 

Father  who  sent  him.  "  Though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sahes  he  became  poor,  that  we 
through  his  poverty  might  become  rich."  He 
often  anticipated  the  day  of  his  death,  and  in 
itself  considered,  earnestly  desired  to  be  de- 
livered from  that  fatal  hour.  He  knew  the 
malice  of  his  enemies,  and  expected  to  feel 
the  weight  of  it  in  his  last  sufferings.  He 
foresaw  all  the  circumstances  that  would  add 
poignancy  to  his  anguish,  and  foresaw  them 
with  distress  and  agony.  But  does  he  shrink 
from  the  dreadful  undertaking?  You  see  him 
steadfastly  setting  his  face  to  go  to  Jerusa- 
lem ;  you  hear  him  teUing  his  disci^Dles  that 
he  must  go,  he  must  suffer,  he  must  be  killed ; 
but  do  you  hear  him  complain  ?  Go  to  Geth- 
semane,  and  there  behold  the  Son  of  God 
under  the  most  clear  and  awful  view  of  his 
approaching  crucifixion,  and  learn  what  it  is 
to  deny  yourself  for  the  sake  of  advancing 
the  Father's  glory.  Listen  to  the  language 
of  a  heart  already  broken  with  grief :  "  I  am 
poured  out  like  water,  and  all  my  bones  are 
out  of  joint :  my  heart  is  like  wax ;  it  is  melt- 
ed in  the  midst  of  my  bowels.  This  body 
sweats  as  it  were  great  drops  of  blood.     The 

Good  Hope.  JQ 


146        GOOD    HOPE   THROUGH   GRACE. 

hidings  of  my  Fatlier's  face  are  enough  to 
bmy  me  in  eternal  darkness.  The  gnilt  of 
this  falling  world  will  sink  my  feeble  frame 
to  the  grave.  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass  from  me.  But  now  is  my 
soul  troubled.  The  hour  is  come,  and  what 
shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from  this  hour. 
But  for  this  cause  came  I  to  this  hour.  Fa- 
ther, GLORIFY  THY  NAME !"  This  was  carrying 
seK-denial  to  its  highest  pitch.  So  pure  was 
the  disinterestedness  of  the  Saviour,  that  the 
sweetest  feelings  of  his  heart  would  have  re- 
mained for  ever  ungratified  without  the  priv- 
ilege of  expiring  on  the  cross. 

This  too  is  the  spirit  which  is  no  less 
strongly  enforced  by  precept  than  example. 
How  often  are  believers  exhorted  not  to  seek 
their  own ;  not  to  live  unto  themselves ;  and 
whether  they  live,  to  live  unto  the  Lord ; 
or  whether  they  die,  to  die  unto  the  Lord. 
That  charity  which  the  apostle  represents  as 
the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  behevers, 
is  self-denjdng ;  it  "  seeketh  not  her  own." 
"If  any  man,"  saith  the  divine  Saviour,  "will 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take 
up  the  cross  and  follow  me.    Whosoever  will 


SELF-DENIAL.  14*7 

save  liis  life,  shall  lose  it;  and  whosoever 
shall  lose  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it." 

One  would  think  it  difficult,  after  such  an 
exphcation,  to  be  long  in  doubt  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  one  of  the  most  decisive  evidences  of 
real  rehgion.  We  can  hardly  turn  to  a  page 
in  the  Bible  without  being  convinced  that 
the  grand  distinction  between  true  religion 
and  false  is,  that  the  one  is  disinterested,  the 
other  is  supremely  selfish.  "  For  whether  we 
be  beside  ourselves,"  says  the  apostle  to  the 
Corinthians,  "  it  is  to  God ;  or  whether  we  be 
sober,  it  is  for  your  cause.  For  the  love  of 
Christ  constraineth  us,  because  we  thus  judge, 
that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead; 
and  that  He  died  for  all,  that  they  which  Hve 
should  not  henceforth  live  unto  themselves, 
but  unto  him  which  died  for  them  and  rose 
again."  Those  who  are  in  the  flesh,  unbe- 
lievers, live  unto  themselves ;  those  who  are 
in  the  Spirit,  believers,  live  unto  Christ. 
There  are  but  two  moral  characters  that  are 
essentially  different,  and  this  is  the  radical 
difference  between  them. 

Here  then  you  have  another  criterion  of 
Christian  character.    It  is  not  supposed  that 


148    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

in  tlie  present  state  we  shall  find  seK-denial 
unaUoyed  with  selfishness.  There  is  not  a 
just  man  upon  earth  that  doeth  good  and 
sinneth  not.  Still,  in  the  affections  and  con- 
duct of  every  child  of  God  the  spirit  of  self- 
denial  is  the  prominent  feature.  He  who 
possesses  most  of  this  spirit,  possesses  most 
of  the  spii'it  of  his  divine  Master.  In  the 
same  proportion  in  which  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  welfare  of  his  kingdom  take  the  place 
of  personal  advancement,  does  vital  religion 
predominate  in  the  soul. 

I  wish  I  could  press  tliis  point  upon  the 
conscience  as  closely  as  its  importance  de- 
mands. The  end  of  the  Christian  in  the 
exercise  of  gi'ace  is  the  glory  of  God,  and  not 
merely  his  OTvn  ]3resent  or  futui^e  hapj)iness. 
The  object  at  which  he  aims  rises  far  above 
any  thing  that  is  confined  within  the  limited 
circle  of  which  his  httle  self  is  the  centre. 
Let  the  reader  call  in  his  wandering  thoughts, 
and  inquire.  Have  I  ever  been  taught  to  fix 
my  heart  on  any  thing  infinitely  more  impor- 
tant than  myself?  Do  all  my  rehgious  affec- 
tions spring  from  some  selfish  motive?  Is 
the  desire  of  self-advancement,  or  the  desire 


SELF-DENIAL.  149 

to  advance  the  glory  of  God,  the  paramount 
principle  of  my  feelings  and  conduct  ? 

The  monastery  and  the  cloister  are  not  the 
only  e\T.dences  that  there  is  much  of  the  show 
of  self-denial  where  there  is  none  of  its  spirit. 
"We  must  look  dihgently  into  the  nature  of 
our  religion,  if  we  would  not  be  deceived. 
Men  may  deny  themselves  in  a  thousand  in- 
stances from  no  other  motive  than  that  they 
expect  to  be  the  gainers  by  it.  "And  no  mar- 
vel ;  for  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  Hght."  You  cannot  know  whether 
your  self-denial  is  genuine  or  whether  it  is 
spurious,  without  knowing  whether  it  is  found- 
ed upon  a  supreme  attachment  to  the  glory  of 
God.  To  deny  yourself  from  a  supreme  re- 
gard to  a  higher  interest  than  your  own,  is  to 
possess  the  spuit  of  the  gospel.  Is  this  then 
the  principle  which  regulates  your  conduct 
both  towards  God  and  towards  man  ?  "Which 
do  you  pursue  most,  your  interest  or  your 
duty?  Which  do  you  think  of  most,  your 
interest  or  your  duty  ?  Can  you  sell  all  for 
the  pearl  of  great  price  ?  Can  you  renounce 
your  ease,  your  profit,  your  honor,  when  they 
come  in  competition  with  your  duty?     Can 


150         GOOD   HOPE    THROUGH   GEACE. 

7011  renounce  every  thing  wliicli  is  inconsist- 
ent with  the  glory  of  God  and  the  highest 
good  of  your  fellow-men?  Are  these  the  nat- 
ural breathings  of  your  heart,  "  Thy  kingdom 
come;  thy  will  be  done?"  Is  the  highest 
interest  of  this  kingdom  identified  with  the 
object  of  your  highest  vdsh.  and  your  most 
vigorous  exertion?  Is  the  cause  of  Christ 
your  concern,  the  dishonor  of  Christ  your 
affliction,  the  cross  of  Christ  your  glory  ?  If 
so,  you  are  not  strangers  to  the  sj^uit  of  self- 
denial.  You  are  not  without  conclusive  evi- 
dence that  you  are  born  from  above.  The 
more  you  forget  yourselves  in  a  sujDreme 
regard  for  God's  glory,  the  more  '^ill  you 
advance  your  own  interest  both  in  this  world 
and  that  which  is  to  come.  But  the  more 
you  seek  a  selfish,  private,  separate  interest 
in  ojDposition  to  the  glory  of  God,  the  more 
are  you  seeking  an  interest  which  God  has 
determined  to  destroy. 


SPIRIT   OF   PRATER.  151 


11.  SPIRIT  OF  PRAYER. 

Saul  of  Tarsus  was  once  a  hardened,  ob- 
stinate sinner.  He  styled  himseK  the  chief 
of  sinners,  a  blasphemer,  a  persecutor,  and 
injurious.  But  he  was  a  chosen  vessel.  It 
pleased  God,  who  separated  him  from  his 
mother's  womb,  suddenly  to  arrest  him  in 
his  career ;  and  near  the  spot  where  he  had 
anticipated  the  success  of  a  commission  arm- 
ed with  the  most  unrelenting  virulence  against 
the  trembling  Christians,  to  humble  him  to 
the  dust.  He  had  in  all  its  strength  and 
prominence  borne  the  image  of  the  earthly, 
but  now  he  bears  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 
"  Behold,"  saith  the  testimony  of  the  faithful 
and  true  witness,  "  behold,  he  prayeth."  He 
is  not  now  the  persecuting  Saul,  but  the  heav- 
en-born, praying  Paul.  The  proud  Pharisee 
has  become  the  humble  supj)Uant;  the  stub- 
born rebel,  the  meek  child  of  Jesus.  "No 
sooner  is  the  soul  born,  than  it  breathes ;  no 
sooner  is  Paul  converted,  than  behold,  he 
prays." 


152    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

Wlien  we  say  tliat  the  spirit  of  prayer  is 
conclusiye  eyidence  of  Christian  character, 
we  feel  under  obligation  to  point  out  wherein 
that  spirit  consists.  We  are  not  to  forget 
that  there  is  snch  a  thing  as  "  drawing  nigh 
unto  God  with  the  mouth,  and  honoring  him 
with  the  hps,  while  the  heart  is  far  fi*om  him." 
The  hearts  of  men  may  be  as  stupid  and  un- 
feeling, as  proud  and  as  self-righteous — they 
may  be  in  the  exercise  of  as  sensible  opposi- 
tion to  the  character  of  the  Most  High,  to  the 
law  and  the  gospel — while  offering  up  the  most 
solemn  exj^ressions  of  homage,  as  they  are 
when  God  is  not  in  all  their  thoughts.  But 
it  is  not  so  with  the  righteous.  His  prayer 
"  goeth  not  forth  out  of  feigned  hps."  With 
the  spiritual  worshipper  the  heart  feels  what 
the  Hps  express. 

The  spirit  of  prayer  is  humble.  It  flows 
from  a  broken  and  contrite  heart.  The  pub- 
lican "  could  not  so  much  as  lift  up  his  eyes 
to  heaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying, 
God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  Before 
Him  who  is  so  great  that  the  nations  are  as 
the  drop  of  the  bucket  in  his  presence,  and 
so  holy  that  the  heavens  are  impure  in  his 


SPIEIT    OF    PEAYEB.  153 

sight,  tlie  suppliant  feels  as  a  man  of  unclean 
lips.  Every  sentiment  of  liis  heart  constrains 
him  to  make  the  affecting  confession,  "  O  my 
God,  I  am  ashamed,  and  blush  to  lift  up  my 
face  to  thee,  for  my  iniquities  are  increased 
over  my  head,  and  my  trespass  is  grown  up 
unto  the  heavens."  Sometimes  a  sense  of 
guilt  so  overwhelms  the  soul  as  to  prevent 
its  free  access  to  the  throne.  "  Mine  iniqui- 
ties have  taken  hold  upon  me,"  says  the 
psalmist,  "  so  that  I  am  not  able  to  look  up ; 
they  are  more  than  the  hairs  of  my, head; 
therefore  my  heart  faileth  me." 

The  spirit  of  prayer  is  also  believing.  Nu- 
merous and  aggravated  as  his  sins  appear, 
much  as  they  attempt  to  discourage  the  be- 
liever from  duty,  he  does  not  yield  to  the  dis- 
couragement. He  has  respect  unto  the  sac- 
rifice of  the  Son  of  God.  He  beheves  that 
God  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  all 
who  dihgently  seek  him.  He  looks  to  Jesus, 
the  Mediator  of  the  better  covenant,  as  the 
way  of  access  to  the  Father.  The  efficacy  of 
his  blood,  the  virtue  of  his  righteousness  is 
his  only  plea.  He  has  an  unshaken  confi- 
dence that  God  can  glorify  himself  by  an- 


154    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

swering  liis  requests  for  Christ's  sake,  and 
he  is  therefore  emboldened  to  press  them  in 
Christ's  name.  Though  he  has  a  lively  sense 
of  his  own  unworthiness,  yet  he  knows  that 
he  has  "  a  great  High-priest  that  has  passed 
into  the  heavens,  Jesus  the  Son  of  God,  who 
is  touched  with  a  feeling  of  his  infirmities," 
and  he  therefore  "  comes  boldly  to  the  throne 
of  grace,  that  he  may  obtain  mercy,  and  find 
grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  Until  the 
work  of  redeeming  grace  shall  cease,  until 
the  Farther  shall  forget  the  Son  of  his  love, 
until  the  name  of  Christ  shall  cease  to  be 
precious,  and  his  intercession  shall  be  no 
longer  prevaihng,  faith  in  the  blood  of  the 
spotless  sacrifice  will  appertain  to  the  nature 
of  prayer. 

But  the  spirit  of  prayer  is  also  submissive. 
The  suppliant  prefers  God's  will  to  his  own. 
This  was  the  disposition  which  our  blessed 
Lord  manifested  in  the  garden.  It  was  an 
awftd  thought  to  him  to  die ;  but  it  was  a 
still  more  awful  one,  that  his  Father's  ^yi\l 
should  not  be  accomplished.  Though  Christ 
viewed  the  death  of  the  cross  as  in  its  own 
nature  dreadful,  yet  he  viewed  the  will  of  his 


SPIBIT    OF    PRAYER.  155 

Fatlier  delightftd.  He  cliose  that  his  Fa- 
ther's will  should  be  done  rather  than  his 
own.  "  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath  given 
me,  shall  I  not  drink  it?"  His  will  y^sls  ab- 
sorbed in  the  will  of  God.  "  O  my  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me ; 
nevertheless,  not  my  will,  but  thine  be  done  " 
This,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  is  the  spirit 
of  every  genuine  suppliant.  He  pours  forth 
the  fulness  of  his  heart  in  the  affectionate 
language  of  a  child,  and  the  submissive  lan- 
guage of  a  servant.  He  is  prepared  to  be 
accepted  or  to  be  rejected  in  his  petitions. 
He  approaches  the  mercy-seat  with  the  de- 
sire that  God  would  exercise  his  wisdom  and 
grace  in  granting  or  denying  his  requests. 

This  is  the  spirit  of  prayer — sincere,  hum- 
ble, beheving,  submissive.  Other  prayer  than 
this  the  Bible  does  not  require — God  will  not 
accept.  This  is  the  spirit  of  genuine  devo- 
tion— a  spirit  which  you  cannot  be  conscious 
of  possessing,  without  the  consciousness  of 
3^our  reconcihation  to  God.  "  Because  ye  are 
sons,  God  hath  sent  forth  the  Spirit  of  his 
Son  into  your  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father." 
If  you  possess  this  Spirit,  though  it  be  in  a 


156         GOOD    HOPE    THROUGH    GRACE. 

very  imperfect  state,  yon  enjoy  tlie  liigh  priv- 
ilege of  being  adopted  into  God's  family,  and 
of  occupying  the  place,  not  of  strangers,  not 
of  foreigners,  not  merely  of  servants,  bnt  of 
children,  heirs  of  God,  and  joint  heirs  with 
Jesns  Christ.  "When  "the  Spirit  bears  wit- 
ness with  onr  spirits  that  we  are  the  chil- 
dren of  God,"  how  high  the  pleasure  to  iitter 
our  acknowledgments,  to  lisp  our  praise,  to 
breathe  forth  our  complaints  towards  heaven. 
What  tongue  can  express  the  sweetness  of 
these  seasons  of  refreshing!  How  is  the 
heart  enlarged!  "Where  the  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  is,  there  is  hberty."  No  slavish  fear 
perplexes  the  mind ;  no  frown  of  divine  dis- 
pleasure guards  the  throne  of  mercy.  The 
children  of  the  common  Father  come  near, 
even  to  his  seat.  There  they  taste  and  see 
that  the  Lord  is  gracious ;  there  they  are 
assimilated  into  the  likeness  of  the  Holy  One ; 
there  they  see  the  clearest  manifestations  of 
the  divine  beauty ;  and  "  beholding  as  in  a 
glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into 
the  same  image,  fi*om  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord." 

Does  the  reader  possess  the  spirit  of  pray- 


SPIKIT    OF    PRAYER.  15T 

er?  Is  it  liis  meat  and  liis  drink  to  liold 
communion  witli  God — throngh.  Christ,  to 
have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto  the  Father  ? 
Is  it  his  greatest  pleasure  to  be  near  to  God, 
and  his  greatest  grief  to  be  far  from  him? 
If  so,  however  great  his  fears,  he  may  hope. 
His  privilege  is  the  privilege  of  sons;  his 
consolations,  those  hidden  joys  mth  which  a 
stranger  intermeddleth  not ;  his  seasons  of 
refreshing,  foretastes  of  the  river  of  life,  v/hich 
flows  from  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

It  may  not  be  amiss,  while  we  are  upon 
this  subject,  to  spend  a  few  minutes  in  look- 
ing at  the  question.  What  evidence  does  the 
long  continued  practice  of  the  external  duty 
of  prayer  afford  of  the  existence  of  vital  re- 
ligion in  the  heart?  "We  do  not  mean,  by 
this  statement,  necessarily  to  exclude  the 
spirit  from  the  form  of  prayer.  If  we  did, 
the  question  would  be  at  an  end.  Wliat  evi- 
dence does  the  long  continued  practice  of  the 
external  form  afford  of  the  existence  of  the 
internal  spirit  ?     It  is  a  question  of  moment. 

Men  may  pray  much,  and  yet  not  be  Chris- 
tians. They  may  pray  in  public,  and  in  their 
families,  and  still  not  be  Christians.     Tliis 


158    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

tlaej  may  do  to  gratify  tlieir  pride ;  to  be 
seen  of  men ;  to  maintain  tlie  character  of 
Christians  in  the  yiew  of  the  world.  They 
may  pray  in  secret  and  not  be  Christians : 
but  whether  men  persevere  in  the  habitual 
practice  of  secret  prayer  without  good  evi- 
dence of  Christian  character,  is  a  question 
which  I  dare  not  answer  in  the  negative. 
Neither  would  I  venture  to  answer  it  unhes- 
itatingly in  the  affirmative.  This  much  the 
Bible  will  surely  warrant  us  to  say :  "  Men 
who  are  not  Christians  will  be  exceedingly 
apt  to  neglect,  and  in  the  end,  wholly  to  neg- 
lect the  practice  of  secret  prayer."  Men  do 
not  act  without  motive.  Now  what  motive 
can  induce  a  man  w^ho  is  dead  in  trespass- 
es and  sins,  whose  carnal  heart  is  enmity 
against  God,  to  persevere  in  the  habitual 
practice  of  secret  prayer?  Is  it  to  silence 
the  clamors  of  a  guilty  conscience?  To  do 
this,  he  Tvdll  pray,  and  often  pray  in  secret. 
But  will  he  always  call  upon  God  ?  The  im- 
penitent are  sometimes  the  subjects  of  much 
seriousness ;  they  are  convinced  of  their  duty, 
and  alarmed  at  their  danger  ;  and  while  they 
remain  in  this  state,  they  are  compelled  to 


SPIEIT    OF    PRAYER.  159 

admit  the  truth  and  importance  of  religion, 
and  dare  not  omit  the  duty  of  secret  prayer. 
But  when  they  lose  their  convictions  and 
forget  their  danger,  the  duties  of  the  closet 
gradually  become  irksome.  At  length  they 
are  a  weariness.  Conscience  ceases  to  gov- 
ern, and  almost  to  accuse.  Her  monitory 
voice  is  silenced;  and  it  becomes  less  and 
less  difficult  to  "  cast  off  fear,  and  restrain 
prayer"  before  God. 

There  is  another  motive  which  will  induce 
the  impenitent  to  maintain  the  practice  of 
secret  devotion  for  a  considerable  length  of 
time.  When  once  they  have  wrought  them- 
selves into  the  persuasion  that  they  are  Chris- 
tians, and  have  cherished  the  hope  that  they 
are  interested  in  the  blessings  of  the  gospel 
salvation,  they  relinquish  the  persuasion  and 
abandon  the  hope  with  singular  reluctance. 
They  will  do  much  to  entertain  and  defend 
them.  They  are  too  selfish  to  omit  a  duty, 
the  omission  of  which  bears  on  its  very  face 
convincing  evidence  that  they  are  hypocrites. 
They  will  rather  practise  the  most  self-deny- 
ing duties,  even  long  after  they  have  lost 
their  borrowed  sweetness,  for  the  sake  of  the 


160    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

testimony  which  tliey  derive  from  this  source, 
that  they  are  the  children  of  God.  This 
motive  no  doubt  operates  in  many  instances 
powerfully,  and  for  some  time ;  but  does  it 
operate  uniformly,  and  to  the  end  of  Hfe? 
With  persons  of  this  description,  the  omis- 
sion of  secret  -prajer  is  at  first  occasional; 
then  more  or  less  frequent,  as  other  avoca- 
tions demand;  till  at  length  the  cares  of 
the  world,  the  temptations  of  the  Adversary, 
and  the  allurements  of  sin  so  far  bhnd  the 
•understanding  and  stupefy  the  conscience, 
that  the  most  hp.rdened  sinner  still  cherishes 
his  vain  confidence,  while  he  closes  his  eyes 
upon  the  last  ghmmering  of  evidence  that 
that  confidence  is  scriptural. 

But  though  men  may  pray,  and  pray  some- 
times in  secret,  they  will  be  exceedingly  apt 
to  neglect  this  duty  if  they  are  not  Chris- 
tians. "Wherever  you  find  the  habitual  per- 
formance of  secret  prayer  for  a  long  course 
of  years,  there  is  some  reason  to  beheve  you 
find  the  breathings  of  the  new-born  soul. 
There  you  may  hope  that  there  are  hun- 
gerings  and  thirstings  after  righteousness. 
There  you  will  usually  discover  a  heart  that 


SPIRIT    OF    PEAYER.  161 

is  not  in  pursuit  of  hope  merely,  but  grace ; 
not  safety  only,  but  holiness.  There  you  v/ill 
usually,  if  not  always,  discover  one,  not  mut- 
tering over  a  few  unmeaning  sentences  as 
devoid  of  life  as  a  loathsome  carcass  is  of 
the  life-giving  spirit,  but  one  whom  the 
Spirit  of  God  has  taught  to  pray  because  he 
is  weak  and  needs  strength,  because  he  is 
tempted  and  needs  support,  because  he  is  in 
want  and  needs  supply,  because  he  is  a  sin- 
ner and  needs  mercy. 

If  these  remarks  are  just,  it  is  not  imperti- 
nent to  ask  the  reader  whether  he  practises 
the  duty  of  secret  prayer  ?  We  do  not  ask 
whether  he  prays  in  secret  now  and  then ; 
whether  he  performs  this  duty  on  the  Sab- 
bath, or  some  occasional  seasons  of  unusual 
alarm  or  solemnity?  Is  this  his  liahUual 
practice  ?  Has  it  been  his  habitual  practice 
ever  since  he  hoped  he  vras  brought  out  of 
darkness  into  God's  marvellous  light?  No 
matter  how  punctual  you  are  in  other  duties  ; 
no  matter  what  evidence  you  have  of  your 
conversion  from  any  other  quarter;  if  you 
have  not  this,  you  may  set  all  other  down  for 
naught.     The  want  of  this  is  decisive  evi- 

Good  Hope.  1 1 


162    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

dence  against  you,  even  if  the  possession  of 
it  is  not  decisive  evidence  in  your  favor. 
Prayer  has  been  often  styled  the  "  Chris- 
tian's breath."  It  is  eminently  so.  A  pray- 
erless  Christian !  No,  it  cannot  be.  It  is  a 
mark  of  the  highest  delusion,  of  the  grossest 
stupidity,  to  cherish  the  hope  of  having  made 
your  peace  with  God,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  live  in  the  neglect  of  secret  prayer.  Wlio 
that  has  the  least  pretension  to  rehgion,  can 
presume  to  live  without  seeking  the  favor, 
without  deprecating  the  wrath,  and  without 
reahzing  the  presence  of  Him  in  whom  he 
lives  and  moves  and  has  his  being?  To 
live  without  prayer,  is  emphatically  to  hve 
"  \sdthout  God  in  the  world." 

Before  I  conclude  this  essay,  I  would  give 
one  caution  to  a  certain  class  of  readers. 
There  are  not  wanting  those  who  live  in  con- 
stant doubt  and  trembling,  because  they  do 
not  enjoy  the  constant  presence  of  God,  and 
the  uniform  fervency  of  affection  in  their  re- 
tirement. Ileal  Christians  have  seasons  of 
coldness  which  chill  the  spirit  of  .devotion. 
Such  is  the  power  of  indwelHng  sin  ;  so  great 
is  the  influence  of  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 


SPIRIT    OF    PEAYEE.  163 

the  cTe^dl,  that  even  God's  own  clear  cliildren 
are  sometimes  carried  too  far  down  the  cur- 
rent. Yes,  to  the  shame  and  guilt  of  God's 
people,  we  are  constrained  to  make  this 
affecting  acknovvdedgment.  Still,  this  humil- 
iating truth  does  not  militate  against  our 
general  principle.  Eeal  Christians  cannot 
live  in  the  neglect  of  prayer ;  nay,  more, 
those  who  do  not  possess  the  spiiit,  and  who 
do  not  hve  in  the  habitual  performance  of 
the  duty,  are  "  in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and 
in  the  bond  of  iniquity."  The  moment  a  man 
begins  to  live  in  the  neglect  of  prayer,  that 
moment  he  should  take  the  alarm. 

May  it  then  be  said  of  you  as  it  was  of 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  "Behold,  he  prayeth?"  If 
so,  then  you  Hke  him  may  be  a  chosen  ves- 
sel. Maintain  a  constant  and  uniform  inti- 
macy with  the  throne  of  grace,  and  for  the 
sake  of  our  great  High-priest,  God  "  will  put 
his  fear  into  your  hearts,  that  you  shall  not 
dex3art  from  him."  Draw  nigh  unto  God, 
and  he  wiD.  draw  nigh  unto  you.  Keep  near 
to  the  fountain-head,  and  luith  joy  shall  you 
draiv  water  out  of  the  luells  of  salvation. 


164    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 


12.  LOVE  TO  THE  BRETHREN. 

The  eminent  Dr.  Owen,  speaking  of  tlie 
primeval  state  of  man,  remarks,  tliat  "tlie 
whole  beauty  of  the  creation  below  consisted 
in  man's  lo^dng  God  above  all,  and  all  other 
things  in  him  and  for  him,  according  as  they 
did  participate  his  glory  and  properties." 
That  was  a  hopeless  hour  when  the  golden 
chain  that  boimd  God  to  man,  and  man  to 
God  and  to  each  other,  was  broken.  "Adam, 
where  art  thon?"  Adam  heard,  and  was 
afraid.  The  earth  was  cnrsed,  and  refused 
to  yield  her  strength.  Sin  polluted  all  the 
ioys  of  Paradise;  apostate  man  became  the 
heir  of  misery,  and  henceforth  dwelt  in  dark- 
ness, cherishing  the  seeds  of  mahce  and  envy, 
hateful,  and  hating  one  another. 

Upon  this  dismal  gloom  not  a  ray  has 
da^vned  but  from  the  cross  of  Clmst.  It  is 
the  prerogative  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  to  pub- 
lish the  "glad  tidings  of  great  joy ;"  and  while 
it  proclaims,  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest," 
to  restore  "  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to 


LOVE    TO    THE   BEETHEEN.  165 

men."  This  gospel  breathes  the  spirit  of 
love.  Love  is  the  falfilling  of  its  precepts, 
the  pledge  of  its  joys,  and  the  evidence  of  its 
power.  "We  know,"  saith  the  apostle,  "that 
we  have  passed  from  death  unto  hfe,  because 
we  love  the  brethren." 

The  love  of  the  brotherhood  is  not  one  of 
the  native  affections  of  the  carnal  mind.  This 
cold,  degenerate  soil  bears  no  such  heavenly 
fruit.  The  affection  which  Christians  exer- 
cise towards  each  other  as  Christians,  is  the 
offspring  of  a  brighter  world.  It  is  a  princi- 
ple of  celestial  birth.  "  Love  is  of  God;  and 
every  one  that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and 
knoweth  God." 

Brotherly  love  is  an  affection  which  is  lim- 
ited to  particular  characters.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  but  the  children  of  God  are  kindly 
affectioned  towards  all  men.  Christian  be- 
nevolence runs  parallel  with  rational  being. 
Genuine  love  to  our  neighbor  is  extended  to 
all,  according  to  their  character  and  circum- 
stances. It  blesses  those  who  curse  us,  and 
does  good  to  those  who  hate  us.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  the  distinguishing  nature  of  broth- 
erly love.     Brotherly  love  differs  materially 


166    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

£i*om  tlie  love  of  beuevolence.  It  is  tlie  love 
of  good  men,  and  for  tlieir  goodness  only. 
It  extends  only  to  the  followers  of  Christ. 
It  is  an  affection  which  is  directed  towards 
the  excellence  of  religion.  It  is  complacency 
in  holiness. 

There  is  something  in  the  character  of  ev- 
ery child  of  God  that  reflects  the  image  of 
his  heavenly  Father.  It  is  this  that  attracts 
the  eye  and  wins  the  heart.  There  is  some- 
thing which  is  amiable  and  lovely.  And  it  is 
this  loveliness  that  gives  a  spring  to  the  affec- 
tions and  draws  forth  the  hearts  of  God's 
people  towards  each  other,  as  they  are  drawn 
forth  towards  God  himself.  The  children  of 
God  are  partakers  of  the  divine  nature.  From 
bearing  the  "image  of  the  earthly,"  they  now 
bear  "  the  image  of  the  heavenly."  God  has 
imparted  to  them  a  portion  of  his  own  love- 
Hness.  He  has  formed  them  new  creatures. 
Of  his  free  and  distinguishing  grace  he  has 
made  them,  as  they  are  styled  by  the  wise 
man,  "  more  excellent  than  their  neighbor." 
Hence  they  are  lovely;  they  are  the  excel- 
lent of  the  earth.  God  loves  them,  Christ 
loves  them,  the  Holy  Spirit  loves  them,  an- 


LOVE   TO   THE   BRETHREN.  16t 

gels  love  tliem,  and  tliey  love  each  otlier.  It 
is  around  them  that  the  virtues  cluster,  from 
them  that  the  graces  of  heaven  are  reflected, 
though  shaded  and  very  often  darkened  by 
the  most  debasing  and  reproachful  sins. 

Love  to  the  brethren  is  also  an  affection 
which  rests  upon  the  union  which  believers 
sustain  with  Christ.  The  Lord  Jesus,  to- 
gether with  all  true  believers,  forms  one  mys- 
tical body.  Christ  is  the  head,  and  they  are 
the  members.  From  him  "  the  whole  body, 
fitly  joined  together  and  compacted  by  that 
which  every  joint  supplieth,  according  to  the 
effectual  working  in  the  measure  of  every 
part,  maketh  increase  of  the  body  iinto  tlie 
edifying  of  itself  in  love''  This  union  is  rep- 
resented by  the  apostle  not  only  as  the  foun- 
dation of  that  communion  which  believers 
maintain  Vvdtli  Christ,  but  of  that  which  ex- 
ists between  believers  themselves.  The  same 
bond  which  unites  believers  to  Christ,  binds 
them  to  each  other.  The  love  which  is  exer- 
cised towards  the  Head  extends  to  the  mem- 
bers. The  union  itself  necessarily  involves 
a  union  of  affection.  Those  who  love  Christ, 
love  those  who  are  hke  him  and  those  who 


168    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

are  beloved  by  liim.  Here  all  distinctions 
vanish.  Name  and  nation,  rank  and  party 
are  lost  in  the  common  character  of  believ- 
ers, the  common  name  of  Christian.  Jew 
and  Gentile,  bond  and  free,  rich  and  poor, 
are  one  in  Christ  Jesus.  They  have  "one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baj)tism,  one  God  and 
Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through 
all,  and  in  them  all."  Actuated  by  the  same 
principles,  cherishing  the  same  hopes,  ani- 
mated by  the  same  prospects,  laboring  under 
the  same  discouragements,  having  the  same 
enemies  to  encounter  and  the  same  tempta- 
tions to  resist,  the  same  hell  to  shun  and  the 
same  heaven  to  enjoy,  it  is  not  strange  that 
they  should  love  one  another  sincerely,  and 
often  "  with  a  pure  heart  fervently."  There 
is  a  unity  of  design,  a  common  interest  in  the 
objects  of  their  pursuit,  which  lays  the  foun- 
dation for  mutual  fiiendship,  and  which  can- 
not fail  to  excite  the  "harmony  of  souls." 
The  glory  of  God  is  the  grand  object  which 
commands  their  highest  affections,  and  which 
necessarily  makes  the  interest  of  the  whole 
the  interest  of  each  part,  and  the  interest  of 
each  part  the  interest  of  the  whole.     They 


LOVE    TO    THE    BRETHREN.  169 

rejoice  in  each  otlier's  blessedness.  There  are 
no  conflicting  interests,  and  there  need  be  no 
jarring  passions.  In  a  common  cause,  in  a 
common  cause  which  in  point  of  importance 
takes  the  place  of  every  other  and  all  others, 
the  affections  of  the  sanctified  heart  are  one. 
Love  to  the  brethren,  thongh  in  practice 
not  always  distinguished,  yet  in  theory  is 
easily  distinguishable  from  all  those  affec- 
tions and  attachments  that  are  purely  natu- 
ral. Men  may  love  Christians  merely  because 
they  imagine  that  Christians  love  them.  This, 
like  every  other  affection  that  is  purely  self- 
ish, is  unworthy  of  the  Christian  name.  They 
may  love  particular  Christians,  because  they 
are  of  their  party  and  imbibe  their  senti- 
ments. This  too  is  nothing  better  than  that 
friendship  of  the  world  which  is  enmity  with 
God.  They  may  esteem  Christians  merely 
from  the  force  of  education  and  habit.  The 
people  of  God  may  not  be  the  objects  of  con- 
tempt or  aversion,  and  still  they  may  not  be 
the  objects  of  complacency.  Indeed  our  con- 
sciences may  constrain  us  to  respect  them,  the 
habits  of  early  education  may  lead  us  often 
to  associate  with  them,  while  we  have  no  af- 


170    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

fectionate  regard  for  tlie  excellence  of  their 
character. 

That  love  T\iiich  is  excited  towards  Chris- 
tians as  Christians  is  a  constituted  proof  of 
saying  grace.  The  reader  will  do  well,  there- 
fore, to  examine  his  ovni  heart,  and  see 
whether  he  is  conscious  of  cherishing  love 
towards  the  people  of  God  because  they  are 
the  2^eople  of  God.  Does  he  love  thern  because 
he  discovers  in  them  the  amiableness  of  that 
divine  religion  which  is  altogether  lovely? 
Does  he  love  them  not  merely  because  they 
love  him  or  have  bestowed  favors  upon  him ; 
not  because  they  are  of  his  party,  but  be- 
cause they  bear  the  image  of  his  heavenly 
Father  ?  Is  his  love  active  ?  Is  it  a  princi- 
ple that  Hves,  that  manifests  itself  by  all 
those  methods  whereby  the  good  of  the 
brotherhood  may  be  advanced?  Does  it  dis- 
cover itself  in  the  dehght  which  it  takes  in 
the  company  and  conversation  of  the  Lord's 
people,  and  in  every  opportunity  which  he 
has  to  exchange  the  tokens  and  strengthen 
the  bonds  of  mutual  affection  ?  Can  he  from 
the  heart  adopt  the  resolution  of  Euth, 
"  Whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  and  where 


LOVE   TO   THE   BEETHREN.  ITl 

thou  locTgest,  I  will  lodge ;  thy  people  shall 
be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God?"  Tell 
me,  do  you  feel  towards  the  children  of  God 
as  towards  the  children  of  one  common  Fa- 
ther and  the  brethren  of  one  common  fami- 
ly? Do  you  love  them  because  they  bear 
the  image  of  the  common  Father  ?  And  do 
you  love  them  in  proportion  to  the  degree  in 
which  they  bear  the  image?  Can  you  bear 
and  forbear  with  them  ?  Can  you  forget  their 
infirmities,  or  do  you  rejoice  to  magnify  them? 
Can  you  cast  the  mantle  of  charity  over  their 
sins,  and  pray  for  them,  and  watch  over  them, 
and  pity  and  blame  and  love  them  still?  And 
can  you  feel  thus  and  act  thus  towards  the 
poorest  and  most  despised  of  the  flock,  and 
that  because  he  is  a  Christian  ?  If  so,  here 
is  your  encouragement:  "He  that  lovetli  is 
born  of  God."  Yours  is  the  spirit  of  a  better 
world.  The  Paradise  you  lost  by  Adam  you 
shall  regain  by  Christ.  Allied  to  spirits  born 
on  high,  you  shall  ascend  to  purer  regions  and 
breathe  a  purer  air.  Far  from  the  tumult  of 
this  apostate  earth,  you  shall  yet  rest  beneath 
the  peaceful  ^shades  of  Eden,  where  blooms 
immortal  amaranth  "  fast  by  the  tree  of  Hfe." 


172        GOOD   HOPE   THIIOUGH   GRACE. 


13.  NON-CONFORMITY  TO  THE 
WORLD. 

Saints  are  expectants  of  glory.  Tliey  are 
born  fi'om  above,  and  bave  no  borne  beneatb 
tbeu-  native  skies.  Here  tbej  are  strangers 
and  pilgrims,  and  plainly  declare  tbat  tbey 
seek  a  better  country.  It  is  tbeir  avowed 
profession  tbat  tbeir  bappiness  and  bopes 
are  neitber  in  nor  from  tbe  present  world. 
Tbeir  treasure  is  in  beaven.  Mucb  as  tbey 
are  influenced  by  tbe  spirit,  governed  by  tbe 
maxims,  awed  by  tbe  frowns,  and  seduced  by 
tbe  flattery  of  tbe  world,  tbey  are  so  far  aloof 
from  all  its  corrupting  influence,  tbat  between 
tbem  and  tbe  world  tbere  is  a  distinct  line  of 
demarcation.  Perfectly  aloof  from  tbe  cor- 
ruptions of  tbe  world  tbey  are  not,  in  tbe 
present  bfe;  but  tbey  are  sufficiently  so  to 
make  tbeir  non-conformity  a  disting-uisbing 
trait  in  tbeir  cbaracter.  Tbey  bave  come 
out,  and  are  separate.  Tbey  are  on  tbe 
Lord's  side.     Tbey  are  a  city  set  on  a  bill ; 


NON-CONFOEMITY   TO    THE    WOELD.    173 

SO  far  raised  above  the  common  level  of  tlie 
world  that  thej  cannot  be  hid.  They  are 
not  of  this  world,  even  as  Christ  was  not  of 
this  world.  Such  is  the  excellence  of  their 
character  and  the  purity  of  their  conduct, 
that  the  world  is  constrained  to  "  take  know- 
ledge of  them  that  they  have  been  with 
Jesus." 

The  spirit  of  the  world  is  incompatible 
with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  pride,  and  not  of  humility — of  self-indul- 
gence, rather  than  of  self-denial.  Kiches, 
honors,  and  pleasure  form  the  grand  object 
of  pursuit  with  the  men  of  the  world.  World- 
ly men  are  solicitous  to  lay  up  treasures  for 
themselves,  and  are  not  rich  towards  God. 
Their  great  inquiry  is,  "Who  will  show  us 
any  good?  What  shall  we  eat,  what  shall 
we  drink,  or  wherewithal  shall  we  be  cloth- 
ed?" They  are  "sensual,  not  ha^dng  the 
Spirit."  Regardless  of  every  thing  but  that 
which  is  calculated  to  gratify  a  carnal  mind, 
they  "lift  up  their  souls  unto  vanity,  and 
pant  after  the  dust  of  the  earth."  Their 
thoughts  and  their  affections  are  chained 
down  to  the  things  of  time  and  sense.     In 


114:         GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

these  they  seem  to  be  irrecoverably  immers- 
ed. They  seldom  think  but  they  think  of  the 
world;  they  seldom  converse  but  they  con- 
verse of  the  world.  The  world  is  the  cause 
of  their  perplexity  and  the  source  of  their 
enjoyment.  The  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of 
the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life  close  every  ave- 
nue of  the  soul  to  the  exclusion  of  every  holy 
desire,  I  had  almost  said,  every  serious  reflec- 
tion. 

This  spirit  the  Christian  has  mortified. 
"  Now  we,"  saith  the  apostle,  "  now  we  have 
not  received  the  spiiit  of  the  world,  but  the 
Spirit  which  is  of  God."  The  heavenly  mind 
looks  down  on  the  things  of  the  world  as 
"lying  vanities  that  cannot  profit."  The 
disciple  of  Jesus,  as  he  has  nobler  affections 
than  the  worldhng,  has  a  higher  object  and 
more  elevated  joys.  "What  things  were 
gain  to  me,  those  I  count  loss  for  Christ ;  yea, 
doubtless,  and  I  count  all  things  but  loss,  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus  my  Lord ;  for  whom  I  am  ready  to  suf- 
fer the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them 
but  dung,  that  I  may  win  Christ."  "Wliile 
the  wise  man  glories  in  his  wisdom,  while 


NON-CONFOEMITY   TO    THE    WOR^D.    Ho 

the  mighty  man  glories  in  his  might,  and  the 
rich  man  glories  in  his  riches,  it  is  his  privi- 
lege to  glory  in  the  Lord^-to  glory  in  noth- 
ing save  "in  the  cross  of  onr  Lord  Jesns 
Christ,  by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  to 
him,  and  he  to  the  world."  The  character 
and  cause  of  the  blessed  Eedeemer  lie  so 
near  his  heart,  that  in  comparison  with  these 
every  thing  else  vanishes  to  nothing.  He 
views  the  world  by  the  eye  of  faith.  He 
sees  it  in  a  Hght  that  reflects  its  intrinsic 
importance,  the  hght  of  eternity.  There  the 
world  shrinks  to  a  point;  the  fashion  of  it 
passeth  away.  "All  flesh  is  grass,  and  all 
the  goodliness  thereof  is  as  the  flower  of  the 
field."  Compared  with  durable  riches  and 
righteousness,  its  highest  enjoyments  are 
trifles  hght  as  aii\  "Yanity  of  vanities," 
saith  the  preacher,  "vanity  of  vanities;  all 
is  vanity." 

As  the  spirit  of  the  world  is  not  the  spirit 
of  God's  people,  so  the  men  of  the  world  are 
not  then-  companions.  The  saints  are  a  pe- 
culiar people.  The  church  is  uniformly  rep- 
resented as  a  society  that  is  distinct  fi'om  the 
world.    "  We  know  that  we  are  of  God,"  saith 


It6         G^OOD   HOPE    THROUGH   GRACE. 

tlie  apostle,  "  and  the  T7liole  world  lietli  in 
T^dckedness."  Between  tlie  people  of  God 
and  tlie  men  of  the  world  there  is  an  essen- 
tial difference  of  character.  The  views,  the 
desires,  and  the  designs  of  the  children  of 
God  are  diametrically  opposite  to  the  views, 
the  desu'es,  and  the  designs  of  the  men  of  the 
world.  The  one  loves  what  the  other  hates ; 
the  one  pursues  what  the  other  shuns.  Saints 
are  passing  the  narrow  way  which  leads  to 
life ;  sinners,  the  broad  way  which  leads  to 
death.  Hence  there  is  no  common  bond 
between  them.  The  dissimilarity  of  charac- 
ter, the  diversity  in  the  great  objects  of  pur- 
suit, naturally  draw  them  asunder.  If  there 
were  no  other  ground  for  the  expectation, 
therefore,  than  the  common  principles  of  hu- 
man nature,  we  might  look  for  dissension 
rather  than  unity  between  the  disciples  of 
Christ  and  the  men  of  the  world.  "  How  can 
two  walk  together,  except  they  be  agreed  ? 
What  fellowship  hath  light  with  darkness? 
or  what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?" 
The  same  principles  which  prompt  the  men 
of  the  world  not  to  select  the  people  of 
God  for  their  familiar  companions,  also  in- 


NON-CONFORMITY    TO    THE    WORLD,    lit 

cluce  tlie  people  of  God  to  choose  otlier  com- 
panions tlian  tlie  men  of  the  world.  There 
is  an  irreconcilable  spirit  between  them. 
"  The  fi'iendship  of  the  world  is  enmity  with 
God."  Many  as  may  be  the  mutual  tokens 
of  respect,  civility,  and  kindness — and  many 
there  should  be — bety/een  Christians  and  the 
men  of  the  world,  they  are  notwithstanding 
two  distinct  classes  of  men.  Much  as  Chris- 
tians esteem  the  men  of  the  world  as  good 
members  of  civil  society ;  much  as  they  re- 
gard their  happiness,  and  endeavor  to  ad- 
vance it ;  much  as  they  compassionate  their 
depra^dty,  and  deplore  their  prospects ;  much 
as  they  are  conversant  with  them  in  the  ordi- 
nary calls  of  duty,  still,  they  are  not  their 
chosen  companions.  They  cannot  court  their 
friendship,  because  they  are  afraid  of  it. 
"Evil  communications  corrupt  good  man- 
ners." "  He  that  walketh  with  wise  men  shall 
be  wise;  but  a  companion  of  fools  shall  be 
destroyed." 

Those  who  have  mortified  the  spirit,  and 
who  stand  at  a  distance  from  the  men  of  the 
world,  are  also  in  some  good  degree  above 
its  corrupting  influence.     The  claim  which, 

Gooa  Hope.  12 


178    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

from  tlieir  numbers  and  strength,  tlie  world 
are  apt  to  consider  tliemselves  as  warranted 
to  make  upon  the  opmions  and  practices  of 
God's  people,  is  habitually  resisted.  Though 
good  men  may  be  often  seduced  by  the  smiles 
and  awed  by  the  fr^owns  of  the  world,  it  is  no 
part  of  their  general  character  to  conform 
either  to  its  pleasure  or  displeasure.  They 
act  from  higher  motives,  and  maintain  a 
more  consistent  character,  than  to  give  way 
to  indulgences  merely  for  the  sake  of  pleas- 
ing the  world,  or  to  avoid  duty  merely  through 
the  fear  of  offending  it.  Wliile  they  regard 
the  fear  of  God  more  than  the  fear  of  man, 
they  will  not  dishonor  God  to  please  the 
world;  and  while  they  regard  the  favor  of 
God  more  than  the  favor  of  man,  they  will 
not  purchase  the  favor  of  man  at  the  expense 
of  the  favor  of  God.  An  habitual  regard  to 
the  will  and  the  favor  of  God  is  an  effectual 
secuiity  against  the  smiles  of  the  world.  The 
gi'eat  object  of  the  Christian  is  duty  ;  his  pre- 
dominant desire,  to  obey  God.  When  he  can 
please  the  world  consistently  with  these,  he 
will  do  so ;  otherTN^se  it  is  enough  for  him 
that  God  commands,  and  enough  for  them 


NON-CONFOEMITY    TO    THE    WORLD.    179 

that  lie  cannot  disobey.  Tlie  same  spirit  is 
also  an  effectual  security  against  the  frowns 
of  the  world.  Eeal  Christians  cannot  be 
more  afraid  of  the'  displeasure  of  the  world 
than  of  the  displeasure  of  God.  While  they 
dread  to  offend  God,  they  cannot  tamely  bow 
to  the  frowns  of  men.  "  Whether  it  be  right 
to  hearken  unto  men,  rather  than  unto  God, 
judge  ye."  This  was  the  spirit  of  the  early 
disciples ;  and  this  w^ill  be  the  spirit  of  every 
disciple  down  to  the  latest  period  of  time. 
So  far  as  he  manifests  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
wherever  he  is,  whatever  he  does,  the  fear  of 
God  uniformly  predominates  over  the  fear  of 
man ;  and  the  love  of  God,  rather  than  the 
love  of  the  world,  bears  uncontrolled  sway 
over  his  affections  and  conduct. 

There  would  be  no  difficulty  in  pointing 
out  the  path  of  duty  upon  this  general  sub- 
ject ;  but  there  is  some  in  saying  how  far 
men  may  swerve  from  this  path,  and  yet  be 
Christians.  One  thing  is  plain:  Christians 
cannot  be  worldlings.  They  cannot  be  lovers 
of  pleasure  more  than  lovers  of  God.  He  who 
fixes  his  liighest  affections  on  wealth,  honor, 
business,  sensual  pleasures,  gay  amusements, 


180    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GEACE. 

and  the  varions  pursuits  of  tlie  present  scene, 
cannot  fix  tliem  supremely  on  God.  "No 
man  can  serve  two  masters ;  for  either  he  will 
hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  else  he 
will  hold  to  the  one  and  despise  the  other. 
Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon." 

Nor  is  the  character  of  the  vast  multitude 
who  attempt  to  make  a  compromise  between 
God  and  the  world,  better  than  that  of  the 
mere  worldhng.  "  Ye  are  of  your  father  the 
de^dl,  and  the  lusts  of  your  father  ye  will 
do."  The  mere  fact  that  they  are  for  ever 
balancing  between  a  life  of  devotion  and  a 
life  of  pleasure,  that  they  design  now  to  }deld 
the  empire  to  God  and  then  to  the  world, 
decides  the  question  against  them. 

We  must  not  deny  that  the  children  of 
God  are  sometimes  guilty  of  awful  defection 
from  the  standard  of  Christian  character  in 
their  intercourse  with  the  world.  But  after 
all,  their  prevailing  feehngs  and  conduct  are 
not  those  of  conformity  to  the  world,  but  of 
habitual  non-conformity.  The  principles  of 
the  new  man  are  at  war  with  the  principles 
of  the  world.  True  believers  have  "  put  off 
concerning  the  former  conversation  the  old 


NON-CONFORMITY   TO    THE   WOELD.    181 

man,  wliicli  is  corrupt  according  to  tlie  de- 
ceitful lusts,  and  have  put  on  tlie  new  man, 
wiiich  after  God  is  created  in  rigliteousness 
and  true  lioliness."  "  This  I  say  then,"  saith 
the  apostle,  "  walk  in  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall 
not  fulfil  the  lusts  of  the  flesh."  We  cannot 
walk  after  the  flesh  y/hile  we  walk  after  the 
Spirit.  While  the  love  of  God  is  the  reign- 
ing affection  of  the  heart,  it  will  turn  away 
with  disgust  from  the  allurements  of  the 
world.  The  spirit  of  Christians  is  a  heaven- 
ly spmt.  They  "  look  not  at  the  things  that 
are  seen,  but  at  those  that  are  unseen;  for 
the  things  that  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the 
things  that  are  unseen  are  eternaL"  They 
"  set  their  affection  on  things  above,  and  not 
on  things  on  the  earth." 

This  subject  presents  a  number  of  solemn 
questions  to  every  one  who  is  anxious  to  as- 
certain whether  his  heart  is  right  in  the  sight 
of  God.  It  is  a  great  point  with  all  of  us  to 
know  whether  we  are  spiiitually-minded  or 
worldly-minded ;  whether  we  are  "  conformed 
to  this  world,"  or  "transformed  by  the  renew- 
ing of  our  minds;"  whether  the  objects  of 
faith  or  of  sense,  things  present  or  to  come, 


182    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

liave  the  preclominating  influence  oyer  our 
liearts. 

TVTiat  shall  we  say  of  those,  and  of  those 
professing  Christians  too,  who  exhibit  to 
themselves  and  to  others  all  the  traits  of 
character  which  belong  to  worldly  men? 
"What  of  those  who  pursue  worldly  things 
with  all  that  ardor,  all  that  intemperate  zeal 
which  enters  into  the  pursuits  of  worldly 
men  ?  Is  there  not  reason  to  fear  that  they 
are  supremely  attached  to  earth,  and  are  as 
yet  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel? 

"\Miat  shall  we  say  of  those  who  love  the 
circles  of  fashion  more  than  the  associations 
for  prayer,  and  who  court  the  friendship  of 
the  rich,  the  gay,  and  the  honorable,  more 
than  that  of  the  humble  discij)le  of  Jesus? 
"What  of  those  "  who  send  forth  their  little 
ones  like  a  flock,  and  their  children  dance; 
who  take  the  timbrel  and  harp,  and  rejoice 
at  the  sound  of  the  organ?"  Was  Job  un- 
charitable when  he  ranked  persons  of  this 
character  with  those  who  "say  unto  God, 
Depart  from  us,  for  we  desire  not  the  know- 
ledge of  thy  ways  ?" 

"Wliat  shall  we  say  of  those  who  are  for 


NON-CONFORMITY    TO    THE    WORLD.    183 

ever  varying  from  the  path  of  duty,  lest  it 
should  be  unpopular ;  who  never  hsp  a  sylla- 
ble or  Hft  a  finger  for  the  honor  of  God,  lest 
they  should  displease  the  world  ?  What,  but 
that  "  they  love  the  praise  of  men  more  than 
the  praise  of  God?" 

Conformity  to  the  world  is  to  be  expected 
from  the  professed  worldhng.  It  is  the  char- 
acter of  the  worldling.  But  is  it  to  be  ex- 
pected fr'om  the  professed  disciple  of  Jesus  ? 
Is  it  the  result  of  the  habitual  determinations 
of  a  heavenly  mind  ?  Is  it  the  character  of 
one  who  looks  on  things  that  are  unseen  and 
eternal,  of  a  stranger  and  sojourner;  of  one 
who  sets  his  affections  on  things  above,  and 
not  on  things  on  the  earth  ?  How  many,  Hke 
the  young  man  in  the  gospel,  exhibit  a  de- 
cent and  regular  outward  profession,  who  are 
wholly  devoted  to  the  world.  Here  their  af- 
fections centre.  From  this  polluted  fountain 
all  their  joys  flow.  They  had  been  Christians 
but  for  the  world.  But  the  world  is  the  fatal 
snare.  They  have  plunged  down  the  preci- 
pice, and  drifted  almost  beyond  the  hope  of 
recovery. 

"  If  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the 


184    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

Fatlier  is  not  in  liim."  The  expression  of  tlie 
apostle  is  not  too  strong :  "  To  be  carnallj- 
minded  is  death.'"  Show  me  the  men  who 
imbibe  the  spirit  of  the  world;  who  choose 
the  company  of  the  world;  who  imitate  the 
example  of  the  world,  conform  to  the  maxims 
of  the  world,  are  swallowed  up  in  the  gajety, 
fashions,  and  amusements  of  the  world — "be- 
hold, these  are  the  nngodlj,  who  are  brought 
into  desolation  as  in  a  moment."  "  I  have 
seen  the  wicked  in  great  power,  and  spreading 
himself  like  a  green  bay-tree.  Yet  he  j)assed 
away,  and  lo,  he  was  not ;  yea,  I  sought  him, 
but  he  could  not  be  found."  "  Surely  thou 
didst  set  them  in  slippery  places ;  thou  easi- 
est them  down  into  destruction." 


GROWTH    IN    GRACE.  185 


14.  GROWTH  IN  GRACE. 

How  beautiful  is  tlie  liglit  of  the  morning! 
Behold  it  hovering  over  the  distant  edge  of 
the  horizon,  and  shedding  its  cheerful  beams 
upon  the  hills.  It  is  a  "morning  without 
clouds."  But  how  soon  is  the  prospect  over- 
cast. The  atmosphere  is  obscured  by  vapors, 
and  the  sun  is  darkened  hj  a  cloud.  Again 
the  mists  are  fled,  the  clouds  have  passed 
over,  and  the  sun  is  still  advancing  in  his 
course.  Thus  he  rises;  now  behind  the  cloud, 
now  in  all  the  gTeatness  of  his  strength,  shin- 
ing "brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect 
day."  Such  is  the  path  of  the  just.  In  the 
present  vv^orld  good  men  are.  very  imperfect. 
The  best  of  men  have  reason  to  complain  bit- 
terly of  the  body  of  sin  and  death;  and  the 
best  of  men  too  have  the  most  ardent  desires 
that  the  body  of  sin  and  death  may  be  "  cru- 
cified with  Christ."  The  highest  point  of 
Christian  experience  is  to  press  forward.  It 
is  a  distinguishing  trait  in  the  character  of 
every  good  man,  that  he  groivs  in  grace. 


186         GOOD    HOrE    THEOUGH   GEACE. 

There  are  various  similitudes  used  by  tlie 
insj)ired  Tviiters  that  are  significantly  ex- 
pressive of  the  advancement  of  Christians  in 
knowledge  and  in  piety.  The  young  convert 
is  Hkened  unto  one  that  is  newly  born.  There 
is  a  point  of  time  in  which  he  begins  to  hve. 
At  first  he  is  a  babe,  then  a  chikl,  till  he 
finally  attains  unto  the  "  measure  of  the  stat- 
ure of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  also  compared  to  "  seed  which 
is  cast  into  the  ground."  Fu'st  cometh  up 
the  tender  blade,  then  the  thriving  stalk,  then 
the  ear;  after  that  the  fuU  corn  in  the  ear, 
ripening  for  the  harvest  and  preparing  for 
the  garner  of  the  husbandman.  It  is  also 
compared  to  a  "  well  of  water,  sjDringing  up 
into  everlasting  life."  No  imagery  in  nature 
can  more  fully  illustrate  the  gi'owth  of  grace 
in  the  heart.  "  The  righteous,"  said  Job, 
"shall  hold  on  his  way,  and  he  that  hath 
clean  hands  shall  wax  stronger  and  stron- 
ger." This  is  the  prominent  feature  in  the 
character  of  the  good  man:  he  shall  hold  on 
Ms  woTj.  "  The  youth,"  saitli  the  evangelical 
prophet,  "  the  youth  shall  faint  and  be  weary, 
and  the  young  men  shall  utterly  faU ;  but 


GKOWTH   IN    GEACE.  187 

tliey  tliat  wait  Tipon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  with 
wings  as  eagles,  they  shall  run  and  not  be 
weary,  and  they  shall  walk  and  not  faiut." 
With  inimitable  beauty  is  the  good  man  de- 
scribed by  the  psalmist:  "And  he  shall  be 
like  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water, 
that  bringeth  forth  his  fruit  .-in  his  season ; 
his  leaf  also  shall  not  ^dther,  and  whatsoever 
he  doeth  shall  prosper."  Grace  in  the  heart 
as  certainly  improves  and  advances,  as  a  tree 
thrives  in  a  kindly  and  well-watered  soil.  "  It 
flourishes  in  immortal  youth,  and  blooms  for 
ever  in  unfading  beauty." 

The  certainty  of  the  believer's  progress, 
however,  rests  on  a  surer  foundation  than 
either  the  degree  or  the  nature  of  his  relig- 
ion. "We  are  not  sufficient,"  says  the  apos- 
tle, "  to  think  any  thing  as  of  ourselves,  but 
our  sufficiency  is  of  God."  That  the  people 
of  God  will  grow  in  the  divine  life  till  they 
reach  the  stature  of  perfect  men,  and  "  are 
meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light,"  is  beyond  all  controversy.  But  the 
reason,  and  the  sole  reason  of  this  is,  that  it 
is  "  God  that  worketh  in  them  to  will  and  to 


188         GOOD    HOPE    TnEOUGH    GFlACE. 

do  of  Lis  good  pleasure."  Covenanted  grace 
is  the  support  of  the  believer  through  every 
step  of  his  pilgrimage.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  nature  of  holiness  that  is  incapable  of 
corruption.  Adam  fell ;  angels  fell.  And  such 
is  the  awful  depravity  of  the  human  heart, 
that  left  to  himseK,  the  holiest  saint  on  earth 
would  draw  back  unto  perdition.  Still  he 
shall  progress  in  hohness  throughout  inter- 
minable ages.  It  is  the  economy  of  di^dne 
grace,  where  God  has  begun  a  good  work,  to 
carry  it  on;  where  he  has  given  one  holy 
exercise  of  heart,  to  give  another  and  an- 
other, until  the  subject  is  ripened  for  glory. 
The  hypocrite,  when  once  he  imagines  him- 
self to  be  a  Christian,  views  his  work  as  done. 
He  is  satisfied.  He  "  is  rich,  and  increased 
in  goods."  But  it  is  otherwise  with  the  ti'ue 
Christian.  Conversion  is  but  his  first  step. 
His  work  is  all  before  him.  His  graces  are 
increasingly  constant  and  increasingly  vigor- 
ous. The  more  he  loves  God,  the  more  he 
desires  to  love  him.  The  more  he  knows  of 
his  character,  the  more  does  he  contemplate 
the  manifestations  of  his  glory  with  rising 
dehght.     "  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  wa- 


GROWTH    IN    GEACE.  189 

ter-brooks,  so  dotli  Ms  soul  pant  after  God." 
Ha^vdng  once  "tasted  tliat  the  Lord  is  gra- 
cious" is  not  enough  to  satisfy  him.  He  will 
ever  remain  unsatisfied  till  he  reaches  the 
fountain-head,  and  drinks  to  the  fall  of  "  the 
river  of  hfe,  which  flows  from  the  throne  of 
God  and  the  Lamb."  The  more  he  sees  of 
the  eYiL  of  sin,  the  more  he  desu-es  to  see. 
The  more  he  hates  it,  the  more  he  desires  to 
hate  it.  The  more  he  sees  of  himself,  the 
more  he  abhors  himself,  and  the  more  does 
he  desire  to  abhor  himself.  The  more  he  is 
emptied  of  himseK,  the  more  does  he  desire 
to  be  emptied  of  himself,  the  more  he  de- 
sires to  become  poor  in  spirit,  to  feel  that  he 
is  cut  off  from  every  hope,  and  to  rest  on 
Christ  alone.  The  more  he  is  engaged  in 
duty,  the  more  dehght  he  finds  in  performing 
it.  The  more  severe  his  conflict  with  the  en- 
emy, the  harder  he  presses  it,  and  the  more 
vigorous  his  resolution  to  maintain  it  to  the 
last. 

There  are  some  things  in  which  the  in- 
crease of  grace  is  more  visible,  both  to  the 
world  and  the  subject,  than  others.  Partic- 
ularly have  the  people  of  God  less  and  less 


190    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

confidence  in  tliemselves.  Tliey  clierisli  an 
increasing  sense  of  tlieir  dependence.  Tliej 
have  been  so  often  disappointed  in  tlieir  false 
confidences,  tliat  tliey  have  in  some  good 
measure  become  weaned  from  tliem.  Tliey 
know  by  bitter  experience  tlie  folly  of  trust- 
ing to  themselves.  They  have  learned  that 
"the  way  of  man  is  not  in  himself;"  that  "it 
is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps." 
The  independent,  self-sufficient  spirit  of  the 
carnal  heart  is  broken  down.  They  "  walk 
by  faith,  and  not  by  sight."  They  daily  taste 
the  sweetness  of  that  heavenly  precept,  "  In 
all  thy  ways  acknowledge  Him,  and  he  shall 
direct  thy  paths.  Cast  all  your  care  on  the 
Lord,  for  he  careth  for  you." 

They  are  more  and  more  patient  in  suffer- 
ings. The  more  they  are  accustomed  to  the 
yoke,  the  less  do  they  repine  under  the  weight 
of  it. 

They  are  also  more  and  more  charitable 
in  theii-  opinions  of  others.  Young  Chris- 
tians are  too  often  uncharitable  and  censori- 
ous. They  are  more  apt  to  take  notice  of 
the  infirmities  of  their  brethren  than  their 
graces,  and  the  infirmities  of  others  than 


GEOWTH    IN    GRACE.  191 

their  own.  Bnt  tlie  more  they  know  of  them- 
selves, the  more  reason  do  they  see  to  exer- 
cise charity  towards  others.  They  fear  to 
judge,  lest  they  themselves  should  be  also 
judged.  They  walk  "  with  aU  lowHness  and 
meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one 
another  in  love." 

They  have  also  the  more  full  government 
of  their  passions.    They  are  "  slow  to  wrath." 

They  are  more  and  more  punctual  in  the 
performance  of  the  relative  duties.  Young 
Christians  are  apt  to  neglect  them.  They 
suffer  the  duties  they  owe  immediately  to 
God  to  swallow  up  those  that  belong  to  their 
neighbor.  But  as  they  advance  in  the  divine 
hfe,  they  become  more  uniform  in  the  exer- 
cise of  grace,  and  more  punctual  in  the  dis- 
charge of  all  duty.  They  do  not  love  God 
less,  but  they  love  their  fellow-men  more. 
As  they  grow  more  fervent  and  more  con- 
stant in  their  devotional  exercises,  so  they 
become  more  circumspect  and  unexception- 
able in  their  intercourse  with  the  world. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  one  point  in  which 
growth  in  grace  is  more  visible,  than  in  that 
harmony  and  consistency  of  character  which 


192         GOOD    HOPE    THEOUGH    GIIACE. 

are  too  often  wanting  in  yonng  Cliristians, 
but  wliicli  sliine  with  so  much  beauty  in  those 
who  are  advanced  in  the  Christian  course. 

In  every  thing  that  belongs  to  the  excel- 
lence of  real  religion,  the  true  believer  is  in 
a  state  of  progression.  He  seeks  and  strives, 
he  ^Testles  and  fights.  He  is  ever  aiming  at 
the  prize.  View  him  in  the  early  part  of  the 
divine  life,  follow  him  through  the  various 
stages  of  his  progress,  and  you  will  find  that, 
notTvdthstanding  all  his  doubts  and  declen- 
sions, he  makes  a  gradual  advance.  He  does 
not  feel,  he  does  not  act  "  as  though  he  had 
abeady  attained,  either  were  abeady  perfect ; 
but  he  follows  after,  if  he  may  apprehend  that 
for  which  also  he  is  apprehended  of  Christ 
Jesus." 

"  This  one  tldncj  I  do,"  says  Paid  :  "forget- 
ting the  things  that  are  behind,  and  reach- 
ing forth  to  those  that  are  before,  I  press 
towards  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high 
calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  Where  is 
the  Christian  that  does  not  make  the  spirit 
of  the  apostle  his  own?  Tell  me,  ye  who 
have  just  begun  the  heavenly  race ;  tell  me, 
ye  who  are  verging  towards  the  goal,  was 


GROWTH   IN   GEACE.  193 

there  ever  a  Christian  that  felt  satisfied  with 
present  attainments?  Is  not  the  unvarying 
voice,  both  of  early  and  long-tried  piety, 
responsive  to  the  language  of  Paul?  Yes, 
it  is  both  the  highest  point  of  Christian  ex- 
perience, and  the  clearest  evidence  of  Chris- 
tian character,  to  press  forward.  The  disci- 
ple of  Jesus  desires  to  be  perfect — to  be  more 
and  more  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ. 
He  presses  after  this.  It  is  his  grand  inqui- 
ry, how  to  be  and  how  to  live  more  Hke  a 
chHd  of  God. 

"  Mark  the  way  of  the  upright."  As  you 
trace  his  steps  through  this  dreary  pilgrim- 
age, sometimes  he  wanders  fi'om  the  path, 
sometimes  he  halts  and  tires.  His  progress 
is  far  from  being  uniformly  rapid,  and  often 
far  from  being  perceptible  either  by  himself 
or  others.  Sometimes  his  motion  is  retro- 
grade. There  are  seasons  when,  instead  of 
advancing,  he  is  the  subject  of  great  defec- 
tion. Still  it  is  true  that  on  the  whole  he 
advances.  If  you  compare  his  present  state 
and  character  with  what  they  were  a  consid- 
erable length  of  time  past,  you  will  find  that 
he  has  made  gradual  progress.    I  know  there 

Good  Hope.  1 5 


194    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

are  seasons,  dark  and  gloomy  seasons — sea- 
sons of  gtdlt  and  declension — when  tlie  real 
Christian  tstII  make  this  comparison  at  the 
expense  of  his  hopes.  Be  it  so.  Seasons 
of  gnilt  and  declension  ought  to  be  seasons 
of  darkness.  I  know  too  that  there  are  sea- 
sons when  he  is  liable  to  discouragement 
because  he  does  not  always  experience  that 
light  and  joy  which  crowned  the  day  of  his 
espousals.  This  is  a  serious  error.  There  is 
a  glow  of  affection,  a  flush  of  joy,  which  is 
felt  by  the  young  convert  as  he  is  just  usher- 
ed into  the  world  of  gi'ace,  which  perhaps 
may  not  be  felt  at  any  future  period  of  life. 
And  you  cannot  from  this  di'aw  the  inference 
that  he  has  made  no  advance.  All  this  may 
be  true,  while  there  is  a  power  of  feeling,  a 
strength  of  affection  in  the  saint  who  has 
passed  through  the  wilderness  and  knows  the 
trials  of  the  way,  to  which  the  young  con- 
vert is  a  stranger.  As  he  ascends  the  mount 
his  eye  is  fixed,  his  step  is  more  ^^igorous, 
and  his  path  brighter  and  brighter.  He 
remembers  his  devious  steps,  and  how  he 
traced  them  back  with  tears.  But  the  trials 
of  the  way  are  forgotten.    He  is  rising  to  that 


GROWTH   IN    GRACE.  195 

brightness  of  purity  wliicli  "  sheds  the  histre 
of  eternity"  on  his  character,  and  aiming  at 
the  croTvn  of  righteousness  which  fadeth  not 
away. 

Here  then  is  another  test  of  the  genuine- 
ness of  your  rehgion.  I  am  aware  that  it  is 
a  severe  one ;  but  it  is  one  which  bears  the 
seal  of  truth,  and  we  must  not  shrink  from  it. 
Professing  Christians  are  apt  to  place  too 
much  confidence  on  their  past  experience, 
and  think  httle  of  the  present — to  think  much 
on  what  they  imagine  to  have  been  their  con- 
version, their  first  work,  and  then  give  up 
the  business  of  self-examination,  and  allow 
themselves  to  droop  and  decline.  But  the 
question  is.  What  is  your  irresent  character  ? 
"  Grace  is  the  evidence  of  grace."  I  know  it 
is  true,  that  he  who  is  once  a  Christian  is 
always  a  Christian;  but  it  is  also  true,  that 
he  who  is  not  noic  a  Christian,  7iever  teas  a 
Christian.  Examine  yourself  therefore,  and  see 
ichether  you  he  in  the  faith.  The  best  evidence 
in  the  world  that  you  are  is  that  you  grow 
in  grace. 

Now  apply  the  principle.  Have  you  on  the 
whole,  since  you  fii^st  began  to  hope  that  you 


196    GOOD  HOPE  THEOUGH  GRACE. 

were  united  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  been 
growing  in  grace?  The  question  is  plain 
and  decisive. 

Do  you  never  "hunger  and  thirst  after 
righteousness?"  Do  you  never  see  the  sea- 
sons when  you  are  conscious  of  the  most  sen- 
sible desii'es  after  increasing  conformity  to 
God? 

Do  you  never  feel  the  burden  of  remaining 
corruption,  and  ardently  desire  to  be  dehv- 
ered  from  its  power?  Do  you  never  find 
your  heart  drawn  out  in  fervent  supplication 
for  sanctifying  grace  as  well  as  pardoning 
mercy  ? 

Do  you  now  desire  to  press  forward,  to 
renounce  every  thing,  and  to  take  God  for  all 
your  portion  ?  Do  you  strive  to  live  nearer 
to  him,  and  are  you  resolved  to  persevere  to 
the  end  in  a  hfe  of  faith  in  Him  "who  loved 
you  and  gave  himself  for  you  ?" 

If  you  can  ingenuously  answer  these  ques- 
tions in  the  affirmative,  you  are  not  destitute 
of  evidence  that  you  "have  passed  from  death 
unto  life."  But  if  you  know  nothing  of  all 
this,  cast  away  your  vain  confidence.  No 
man  living  in  spiritual  sloth,  and  making  no 


GROWTH   IN   GRACE.  197 

new  advances,  ouglit  to  flatter  himself  tliat 
lie  is  interested  in  the  blessings  of  the  great 
salvation.  The  man  who  is  satisfied  because 
he  thinks  he  is  safe,  who  feels  that  he  has 
rehgion  enough  because  he  thinks  he  has 
enough  to  save  him  from  hell,  is  as  ignorant 
of  the  power  as  he  is  a  stranger  to  the  con- 
solation of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 


198    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 


15.  PRACTICAL  OBEDIENCE. 

You  have  no  right  to  call  me,  "Lord, 
Lord,"  saith  the  Sa^vionr,  "  unless  you  do  the 
things  which  I  say.  If  ye  keep  mj  com- 
mandments, ye  shall  abide  in  my  love,  even 
as  I  have  kept  my  Father's  commandments, 
and  abide  in  his  love."  Yon  cannot  claim 
the  character,  you  cannot  share  the  privi- 
leges of  my  people,  without  yielding  a  cor- 
dial, an  habitual,  and  persevering  obedience 
to  the  divine  commandments. 

After  all  that  can  be  said  of  the  nature  of 
the  Christian  graces,  after  every  effort  to  dis- 
criminate between  true  religion  and  false,  the 
spirit  of  obedience  to  the  divine  commands 
is  the  grand  test  of  the  genuineness  of  our 
faith.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 
The  plain  and  decisive  question  wliich  should 
be  often  pressed  upon  the  conscience  is  this : 
Is  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  expressed  in  my 
habitual  deportment  ? 

There  is  a  wide  difference  between  that 
obedience  which  the  gospel  requires,  and  that 


PEACTICAL   OBEDIENCE.  199 

which  is  practised  by  the  most  advanced 
Christian  that  ever  lived.  That  obedience 
which,  through  the  grace  of  God,  the  behev- 
er  is  enabled  to  attain  in  the  present  Hfe, 
and  which  may  be  viewed  as  conclusive  evi- 
dence of  Christian  character  is. 

In  the  first  place,  cordial.  It  flows  from 
the  heart.  "  God  be  thanked,"  says  the  apos- 
tle to  the  Romans,  "that  ye  were  the  ser- 
vants of  sin,  but  ye  have  obeyed  from  the 
heart  that  form  of  doctrine  which  was  deliv- 
ered you."  Evangelical  obedience  expresses 
not  merely  the  form,  but  the  power  of  godli- 
ness. Every  thing  short  of  that  obedience 
w^hich  proceeds  from  the  heart  is  disobedi- 
ence. God  neither  requires  nor  will  accept 
of  obedience  which  does  not  spontaneously 
flow  from  supreme  love  to  himself.  The 
moral  quality  of  all  actions  lies  in  the  dispo- 
sition of  heart  with  which  they  are  perform- 
ed. Actions  that  are  apparently  good  may 
flow  from  a  very  bad  heart,  and  in  the  sight 
of  God  are  as  corrupt  as  the  heart  from 
which  they  flow. 

"We  read  of  those  who  followed  our  Lord 
with  great  zeal  for  a  time,  but  who  at  length 


200    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

"  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  liim." 
And  what  was  the  reason  ?  "  The  love  of 
God  was  not  in  them."  Their  hearts,  like 
that  of  the  young  man  in  the  gospel,  did  not 
enter  into  the  spiiit  of  the  duties  which  they 
practised.  They  did  not  love  the  duties 
themselves,  nor  desire  to  glorify  God  in  them. 
Men  may  practise  the  duties  of  piety  from 
some  mercenary  end.  Ealse  motives  entwine 
themselves  into  all  the  external  duties  of  the 
hypocrite.  Not  so  the  obedience  of  the  true 
Christian.  That  is  deep  and  thorough.  It 
proceeds  from  the  inmost  soul.  There  is  a 
purity  of  design  in  all.  "  This  is  the  love  of 
God,  that  we  keep  his  commandments ;  and 
his  commandments  are  not  grievous.^''  It  is  no 
task  to  the  Christian  to  obey  the  command- 
ments of  God.  It  is  his  highest  pleasure. 
He  delights  in  being  devoted  to  the  ser\dce 
of  a  Being  whom  he  supremely  loves.  "It 
is  his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  the  wiU  of 
Him  that  sent  him,  and  to  finish  His  work." 
It  is  with  heartfelt  pleasure  that  he  conse- 
crates his  time,  his  talents,  and  his  privile- 
ges to  the  dehghtful  w^ork  of  glorifying  God. 
The  glory  of  God  is  the  gi-eat  end  of  his 


PRACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  201 

being.  The  lionor  of  liis  name  is  a  motive 
paramount  to  every  other  principle  ;  the  pre- 
cepts of  his  law  a  guide  paramount  to  every 
other  rule  of  duty.  The  "  love  of  Christ  con- 
strains him."  When  he  contemplates  his 
duty,  he  feels  the  spirit  of  holy  enterprise ; 
when  he  looks  at  the  work  which  God  has 
given  him  to  do,  he  is  animated  with  pious 
zeal,  and  is  constrained  to  exclaim,  "I  de- 
light to  do  thy  win,  O  God ;  yea,  thy  law  is 
within  my  heart.''''  He  therefore  who  obeys 
God  at  aU,  obeys  him  from  the  heart.  He 
obeys  internally  as  well  as  externally.  His 
is  cordial  obedience. 

But  the  obedience  of  God's  people  is  also 
habitual.  There  are  some  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture which  at  first  view  appear  to  inculcate 
the  idea  that  the  obedience  of  the  new  man 
is  universal.  Caleb  and  Joshua  are  said  to 
have  "ivholly  followed  the  Lord."  Job  is 
caUed  ^^s^ perfect  and  an  upright  man."  Zach- 
arias  and  Anna  are  said  to  have  been  "right- 
eous before  God,  walking  in  all  the  command- 
ments and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  hlameless.^^ 
"Whosoever  abideth  in  Christ,"  saith  John, 
^^sinneth  not.''  And  again,  "Whosoever  is 
9^ 


202    GOOD  HOrE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin  ;  for  liis  seed 
remainetli  in  him,  and  lie  cannot  sin,  because 
he  is  born  of  God."  And  thus  our  Saviour: 
"Ye  are  my  friends,  if  ye  do  ivhatsoever  I 
command  you."  But  if  we  would  make  the 
Bible  consistent  with  itself  we  must  give 
these  passages  some  latitude  of  meaning. 
The  experience  of  the  Avorld  and  the  declara- 
tions of  eternal  truth  assure  us  that  "there 
is  not  a  just  man  upon  earth  that  sinneth 
not."  We  must  not  root  out  all  religion  from 
the  earth  because  we  do  not  find  perfection 
in  men.  Moses  sinned,  Samuel  sinned,  Paul 
sinned,  Peter  sinned ;  and  yet  they  were  all 
fervently  pious.  The  melancholy  fact  is,  that 
the  best  of  men  do  sin  greatly.  They  are 
sometimes  the  subjects  of  the  most  awfid 
defection. 

It  is  needless  to  conceal  the  truth,  that  the 
sins  of  good  men  are  of  an  aggravated  char- 
acter. It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  they  do  not 
sin  knoiuingly.  They  are  indeed  often  sur- 
prised into  the  commission  of  sin ;  but  they 
often  commit  it  with  calmness  and  dehbera- 
tion.  They  often  commit  it  in  defiance  to 
the  sober  dictates  of  reason,  and  in  defiance 


PEACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  203 

to  the  most  powerful  conviction  of  their  con- 
sciences. It  is  in  vain  to  say  that  they  do  not 
sin  voluntarily.  No  man  was  ever  constrained 
to  sin.  Sin  cannot  be  forced  upon  men  con- 
trary to  their  own  inclination.  The  children  of 
God  often  complain  that  their  hearts  prompt 
them  to  sin,  but  their  hearts  never  constrain 
them  to  act  contrary  to  their  inclination. 

The  children  of  God  do  sin ;  they  sin  know- 
ingly ;  they  sin  voluntarily ;  but  they  do  not 
sin  habitually.  It  is  not  the  prevailing  habit 
of  their  lives  to  disobey  the  commandments 
of  God.  This  cannot  be.  "  Sin  does  not 
reign  in  their  mortal  bodies,  that  they  should 
obey  it  in  the  lusts  thereof."  Between  the 
old  man  and  the  new,  there  is  an  unceas- 
ing conflict.  "  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh ;  and 
these  are  contrary  the  one  to  the  other,  so 
that  they  cannot  do  the  things  that  they 
would."  StiU,.  in  the  new-born  soul,  the 
flesh  has  not  the  ascendency.  "The  old 
man  is  crucified  with  Christ,  that  the  body 
of  sin  might  be  destroyed,  that  henceforth 
we  should  not  serve  sin."  This  is  most 
surely  true  of  every  behever.     It  is  the  pre- 


204    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

vailiug  habit  of  liis  life  to  obey  the  com- 
mands of  God.  He  is  solicitous  to  perform 
whatever  God  requires,  and  watchful  to  avoid 
whatever  he  forbids.  No  true  Christian  can  be 
habitually  more  engaged  in  the  service  of  the 
world  and  of  sin,  than  in  the  service  of  God. 
His  obedience,  though  not  perfect,  is  habitual. 

It  may  also  be  added,  that  that  conformity 
to  the  precepts  of  God's  word  upon  which  we 
may  safely  rely  as  a  test  of  character,  is  per- 
severing. The  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ  per- 
severes in  his  course  to  the  end  of  life.  He 
holds  on  his  way.  It  is  the  characteristic,  as 
weU  as  the  blessedness  of  those  who  "  trust  in 
the  Lord,  that  they  are  a-s  Mount  Zion  which 
cannot  be  removed,  but  abideth  for  ever." 

The  apostle  John  speaks  of  a  class  of  pro- 
fessing Christians,  that  were  somewhat  mul- 
tiplied even  in  those  early  days  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  He  says,  "  They  went  out  from 
us,  but  they  were  not  of  lis ;  for  if  they  had 
been  of  us,  they  would  no  doubt  have  con- 
tinued with  us ;  but  they  went  out  that  they 
might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were  not 
all  of  us."  The  true  disciple  "  endures  to  the 
end."     Though  he  foresees  that  his  path  is 


PEACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  205 

beset  with  obstructions  on  every  side,  still 
lie  goes  forward.  Tliongli  dangers  may 
threaten  and  trials  discourage  him,  leaning 
upon  the  Beloved,  he  goes  forward.  His 
most  vigorous  resolutions  terminate  upon  his 
duty.  He  goes  forward  with  a  firm  and  Yig- 
orous  step.  No  matter  how  rough  the  way, 
with  an  eye  fixed  on  the  "  Author  and  Fin- 
isher of  his  faith,"  he  goes  forward  with  un- 
abated ardor,  leaving  the  earth  behind  him, 
and  animated  with  the  prospect  of  heaven 
and  glory  before  him.  He  is  aiming  at  "  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Je- 
sus." No  difficulties  are  so  great,  no  fatigue 
so  severe,  as  to  divert  him  from  his  design. 
Perfection  is  his  object.  He  cherishes  no 
present  intention  to  disobey  at  all.  From 
the  heart  he  desires  and  intends  to  yield  a 
compliance,  not  merely  to  this  or  that  requi- 
sition, but  to  all  the  divine  requirements, 
without  distinction,  and  without  exception. 

Yfe  have  the  highest  warrant  to  believe 
that  obedience  thus  cordial,  habitual,  and 
persevering,  is  conclusive  evidence  of  our 
good  estate.  There  are  none  but  real  Cluis- 
tians  who  thus  persevere  in  the  sincere  and 


206    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

habitual  practice  of  godliness.  "  The  ways 
of  the  Lord  are  right,  and  the  just  shall 
walk  in  them,  but  the  transgressors  shall  fall 
therein."  The  way  of  the  Lord  is  a  high 
way ;  it  is  called  "  the  way  of  hohness,  and 
the  unclean  shall  not  pass  over  it." 

The  Scriptures  uniformly  represent  a  hfe 
of  practical  godliness  as  a  decisive  test  of 
Christian  character.  A  holy  life  is  the  grand 
mark  of  distinction  between  the  children  of 
God  and  the  children  of  the  devil.  "  Li  this 
the  children  of  God  are  manifest,  and  the 
children  of  the  devil :  Whosoever  doeth  not 
righteousness  is  not  of  God."  "  Little  chil- 
dren," saith  the  same  apostle,  "let  no  man 
deceive  you :  he  that  doeth  righteousness  is 
righteous ;  he  that  committeth  sin  is  of  the 
devil."  And  again,  "  Hereby  do  we  know 
that  we  know  him,  if  we  keep  his  command- 
ments." 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  it  can  be 
otherwise.  There  is  an  inseparable  connec- 
tion between  a  holy  heart  and  a  holy  life.  A 
holy  life  can  no  more  proceed  fi'om  an  unholy 
heart,  than  a  pure  stream  can  flow  from  an 
impure  fountain.     Wherever  we  find  cordial, 


PKACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  20*1 

habitual,  persevering  obedience  to  tlie  divine 
commands,  there  we  have  reason  to  believe 
the  love  of  God  dwells  in  the  heart.  Show 
me  a  man  who  makes  the  law  of  God  the 
rule,  and  the  glory  of  God  the  end  of  his 
conduct ;  who  is  habitually  devoted  to  the 
duties  of  piety  and  charity ;  and  I  will  show 
you  one  whose  heart  has  been  sanctified  by 
the  Spirit  of  grace.  On  the  other  hand,  show 
me  a  man  who,  in  the  general  course  of  his 
life,  pays  no  regard  either  to  the  divine  law  or 
the  divine  glory ;  who  neither  denies  himself, 
nor  exerts  himself  for  the  honor  of  God  and 
the  good  of  his  fellow-men ;  and  I  will  show 
you  a  man  who,  notwithstanding  all  his  hopes 
and  his  professions,  has  never  felt  the  power, 
nor  tasted  the  sweetness  of  genuine  rehgion. 
The  truth  is,  men  sincerely  and  habitually 
act  as  they  love  to  act.  In  forming  a  judg- 
ment concerning  our  own  character,  we  have 
no  right  to  view  our  practice  better  than  our 
principles,  nor  our  principles  better  than  our 
practice. 

At  the  future  judgment,  there  will  be  a 
pubhc  trial  of  human  character.  The  grand 
question  then  to  be  decided  will  be,  Are  you 


208    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

a  child  of  God?  Are  you  a  believer  in  tlie 
Lord  Jesus  Christ?  This  question  will  be 
decided  by  evidence.  And  the  evidence 
which  the  righteous  Judge  will  view  as  con- 
clusive, will  be  a  life  of  practical  godliness. 
The  Father,  without  respect  of  persons,  will 
judge  according  to  every  man's  tvorJc.  When 
John,  in  the  vision  of  Patmos,  "  saw  the  sea 
give  up  the  dead  which  were  in  it,  and  death 
and  hell  give  up  the  dead  which  were  in  them, 
they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  his 
work."  In  looking  forward  to  the  process 
of  that  day,  the  reader  may  anticipate  this 
grand  rule  of  trial.  If  he  leads  a  life  of 
evangelical  obedience,  though  that  obedience 
is  not  the  ground  of  his  acceptance,  it  is  evi- 
dence that  he  is  accepted.  And  this  is  evi- 
dence that  comes  without  looking  for  it.  A 
life  of  humble,  holy,  Christ-hke  obedience, 
carries  hope  and  faith  and  comfort  along 
with  it.  It  is  conclusive  evidence  that  "  the 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  you,"  and  is  not 
long  maintained  without  filling  the  heart 
with  Hght  and  joy. 

Come  then  and  try  your  heart  by  the  same 
rule  whereby  God  tries  it.     God  has  given, 


PRACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  209 

or  he  will  give  you,  a  fair  opportunity  of 
proving  your  religion  by  bringing  it  into 
action.  He  proved  Abraham,  and  the  trial 
issued  in  the  clearest  evidence  of  Abraham's 
reHgion.  He  proved  the  young  man  in  the 
gospel,  and  the  result  of  the  trial  was,  that 
he  loved  the  world  more  than  God.  What 
is  the  issue  of  the  trial  in  your  case  ?  Frames 
and  experiences  and  professions  and  hopes 
are  nothing  without  Hves  of  practical  godli- 
ness. "He  that  hath  my  commandments 
and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth  me." 

The  plain  question  which  was  stated  at 
the  beginning  of  this  essay,  is  a  very  impor- 
tant one.  Does  your  religion  express  itself  in 
your  liahitual  dejjortment — in  prosperity,  in 
adversity,  in  the  family,  in  the  world,  among 
friends  and  foes  ?  Kemember,  "  he  that  hath 
the  hope"  of  the  gospel,  "purifieth  liimself 
even  as  Christ  is  pure."  Does  your  love  to 
God  prompt  you  to  a  devout  attendance  upon 
all  his  institutions?  Does  it  animate  you 
with  increasing  attachment  to  his  word  and 
his  service?  Does  your  love  to  man  lead 
you  to  "  do  justice  and  love  mercy,"  to  "  live 
in  peace  with  all  men?"     Does  it  make  you 

Good  Hope.  14 


210         GOOD    HOPE    THROUGH   GEACE. 

tlie  better  husband,  or  the  better  wife ;  the 
better  parent,  or  the  better  child ;  the  better 
master,  or  the  better  servant;  the  better 
magistrate,  or  the  better  subject ;  the  better 
friend,  or  the  better  citizen  ? 

The  rehgion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  sys- 
tem of  empty  speculations,  designed  to  have 
no  practical  influence.  It  is  not  the  offspring 
of  ^ild  enthusiasm,  that  exhausts  all  its  force 
in  feehng,  and  leaves  none  for  action.  "A 
good  man  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  the 
heart "  necessarily  "  bringeth  forth  good 
things."  Experience  without  practice  is 
nothing ;  and  practice  without  experience  is 
no  more.  Experimental  rehgion  consists  in 
the  reahty  of  the  Christian  graces,  and  in 
their  due  effect  upon  the  life  and  conversa- 
tion. If  you  are  an  experienced  Christian, 
you  feel  the  power  of  rehgion  in  your  heart, 
and  exhibit  it  in  your  hfe.  "  The  life  of  Jesus 
is  made  manifest"  in  some  good  degree  "in 
your  mortal  flesh."  You  feel  and  act  in  some 
measure  as  Christ  felt  and  acted.  You  dis- 
cover his  Spirit;  you  imitate  his  example; 
you  exhibit  a  firm  and  bold  attachment  to 
his  cause. 


PEACTICAL    OBEDIENCE.  211 

But  with  all  tliy  short-comings,  "with  all 
thy  gross  violations  of  duty,  is  such  the  ha- 
bitual course  of  thy  hfe?  Is  thine  a  hfe  of 
devotion,  of  meekness  and  humility;  of  su- 
jDreme  attachment  to  heavenly  and  divine 
things;  of  self-denial,  and  of  universal  be- 
nevolence? Try  your  heart  by  your  prac- 
tice, and  your  practice  by  your  heart.  If, 
after  candid  examination,  you  find  reason  to 
hope  that  you  are  one  of  God's  dear  chil- 
dren— washed  with  the  blood,  sanctified  by 
the  Spirit,  clothed  with  the  righteousness  of 
the  Well  Beloved — cherish  that  hope  as  the 
gift  of  heaven.  Dismiss  your  fears;  bind 
yourself  to  be  the  Lord's  in  an  everlasting 
covenant ;  think  less  of  yourself,  and  more 
and  more  of  the  name,  the  cross,  the  glory  of 
your  Kedeemer.  Henceforth  "  let  your  light 
shine.''  "  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  and  all  things  shaU 
be  added  unto  you."  Or  in  other  words, 
serve  God,  and  God  will  take  care  of  you. 
Submit  to  his  will,  trust  in  his  grace,  and 
resign  yourseK  uito  his  hands,  mth  the  as- 
surance that  "  the  Lord  is  tvell  i^leased  with 
those  who  liope  in  Ms  mercy'' 


212         GOOD    HOrE    THROUGH    GKACE. 


CONCLUSION. 

Let  the  reader  review  tlie  preceding  pages 
in  tlie  fear  of  God.  The  subject  is  of  eternal 
moment.  A  mistake  here  is  a  mistake  for 
eternity.  Under  a  deep  sense  of  his  need  of 
the  searching  influences  of  the  divine  Spirit, 
let  him,  as  he  reflects  upon  what  he  has  read, 
adopt  the  language  of  the  psalmist :  "Search 
me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart ;  try  me,  and 
know  my  thoughts ;  and  see  if  there  be  any 
wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way 
everlasting." 

"  He  that  is  not  with  me,"  saith  the  Sav- 
iour, "is  against  me."  There  is  no  principle 
within  the  whole  compass  of  morals  that 
admits  of  more  strict  demonstration  than 
this,  that  there  can  be  but  two  moral  charac- 
ters that  are  essentially  different.  There 
must  be  necessarily  in  every  intelligent  being 
a  conformity  to  the  will  of  God,  or  the  want 
of  it.  It  is  as  impossible  that  a  man  should 
be  neither  right  nor  wi'ong,  as  it  is  that  a 
portion  of  matter,  at  any  given  period,  should 


CONCLUSION.  213 

be  neitlier  at  rest  nor  in  motion.  It  is  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  he  is  neither  a  saint  nor 
a  sinner,  neither  penitent  nor  impenitent, 
neither  a  beHever  nor  an  unbeliever.  So 
long  as  men  possess  any  moral  character, 
they  must  view  themselves,  and  be  viewed  by 
others,  either  for  God  or  against  him.  In  the 
great  contest  which  enhsts  the  feelings  and 
the  power  of  three  worlds,  it  is  impossible 
that  there  should  be  a  neutral.  One  side  or 
the  other  will  claim  every  intelligent  being  in 
heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  heU.  And  it  is  right 
they  should  do  so.  If  the  Hue  should  now 
be  drawn  by  the  invisible  hand  of  the  great 
Searcher  of  hearts,  on  the  one  side  would  be 
the  friends  of  God,  on  the  other  his  enemies. 
Suffer  me  then,  beloved  reader,  before  I 
take  leave  of  you,  plainly,  solemnly,  and 
affectionately  to  ask  the  question.  On  ivliicli 
side  do  you  stand  ?  K  you  possess  nothing 
more  than  mere  visible  morahty,  nothing 
more  than  the  naked  form  of  religion,  noth- 
ing more  than  a  speculative  knowledge  of  the 
system  of  revealed  truth,  nothing  more  than 
simple  conviction  for  sin,  nothing  more  than 
a  vain  confidence  of  your  own  good  estate, 


214    GOOD  HOPE  THROUGH  GRACE. 

connected  witli  some  apparent  zeal  for  tLe 
cause  of  God,  and  a  few  transient  and  spuri- 
ous affections,  Low  can  you  be  one  of  tlie 
children  of  the  everlasting  Father?  If  you 
are  a  stranger  to  God,  to  repentance  for  sin, 
to  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  evangel- 
ical humility,  to  genuine  seK-denial,  how  can 
you  cherish  the  hope  that  you  are  a  Chris- 
tian? If  you  know  nothing  of  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  nothing  of  the  love  of  the  brother- 
hood, nothing  of  mortifying  the  spirit  of  the 
world,  nothing  of  growth  in  grace,  of  cordial, 
habitual,  persevering  obedience  to  the  divine 
commands,  hoAV  can  it  be  that  you  have  been 
"brought  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ?"  If 
these  things  are  so,  "  thou  hast  neither  part 
nor  lot  in  this  matter,  for  thy  heart  is  not 
right  in  the  sight  of  God." 

Does  this  agitate  you?  The  ^mter  of  these 
pages  takes  no  pleasiu'e  in  exciting  needless 
alarm.  But  how  can  he  raise  the  unhallowed 
cry,  Peace,  peace  I  when  the  eternal  God  saith, 
There  is  no  p)^(^'Ce  ?  How  can  he  raise  the 
unhallowed  cry,  when  every  note  of  the  syren 
song  would  only  lull  the  hypocrite  into  a 
more  death-hke  security,  and  every  sentence 


CONCLUSION.  215 

prove  the  blow  to  sink  him  deeper  into  the 
eternal  pit  ?  Poor  self-deceived  man,  who 
vainly  imaginest  that  thou  art  in  the  w^ay  to 
heaven,  while  tlion  art  in  the  way  to  hell, 
rather  than  amuse  thee  with  tame,  smooth, 
pretty  things.  Oh  that  I  could  raise  a  voice 
that  would  make  thee  "  tremble,  even  in  the 
grave  "  of  trespasses  and  sins !  Be  entreated 
to  dismiss  thy  deceptions,  to  give  up  thy  de- 
lusive confidence.  Cast  not  the  anchor  of 
hope  upon  a  shore  so  yielding  that  the  final 
blast  will  break  its  hold.  However  hard  the 
struggle,  despair  of  mercy  without  being 
washed  in  the  blood  of  Jesus.  Cherish  not 
a  delusion  which  the  king  of  terrors  will  tear 
from  thy  heart. 

But  shall  I  presume  that  all  my  readers 
are  hypocrites  ?  No  ;  many  of  them,  I  trust, 
are  the  dear  people  of  God.  Some  of  them 
may  be  weak  in  faith  and  weak  in  hope. 
Beloved  Christian,  I  would  not  lisp  a  sylla- 
ble to  rob  thee  of  thy  confidence.  Though 
weak  and  trembling,  there  is  every  thing  to 
encourage  and  strengthen  thee.  It  cannot 
discourage  you  to  examine  closely  whether 
the  foundation  of  your  hope  be  firm,  whether 


216        GOOD    HOPE    THROUGH   GEACE. 

your  confidence  is  built  upon  tlie  sand,  or 
wlietlier  it  rest  on  the  Rock  of  ages.  Feeble 
Christians  are  called  upon  to  mourn  over 
their  weakness.  Their  want  of  strength  is 
their  sin.  Their  graces  may  be  well  com- 
pared to  the  "  dimly  smoking  flax."  They 
emit  Httle  that  warms  and  enhghtens.  Theii* 
love  is  cold,  their  joys  barren  and  poor.  God 
hides  his  face,  and  they  are  troubled.  Toss- 
ed like  Peter  on  the  tempestuous  sea,  they 
have  hardly  faith  even  to  cry,  "  Lord,  save, 
or  I  perish."  Still  they  may  rejoice.  The 
Angel  of  the  everlasting  covenant  lives.  That 
precious  covenant  itself  recognizes  the  heart- 
reviving  principle,  "Redemption  through  the 
blood  of  Jesus,  forgiveness  of  sins  according 
to  the  riches  of  his  grace."  Well  then,  be- 
liever, may  est  thou  rejoice  even  in  the  midst 
of  trembling.  What  though  thou  art  bowed 
down  under  the  weight  of  guilt ;  what  though 
poor  in  spirit,  filled  with  apprehension,  and 
almost  hopeless;  what  though  thou  art  like 
the  "bruised  reed" — frailty  itself  still  more 
frail,  ready  to  fall  by  the  gentlest  breeze : 
"A  bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and 
smoking   flax   shall   he    not   quench."      No, 


CONCLUSION.  217 

never.  It  shall  not  be  broken,  but  support- 
ed, clierislied ;  yea,  by  a  hand  that  is  omnip- 
otent transplanted  to  the  garden  of  the  Lord, 
and  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our  God.  The 
great  Head  will  never  disregard  the  feeblest 
members  of  his  own  body. 

There  is  a  pecuHar  adaptedness  in  the 
character  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
weakness  and  fears  of  his  people.  Early  was 
he  designated  as  one  who  should  "bear  our 
griefs  and  carry  our  sorrows,"  commissioned 
to  "bind  up  the  broken-hearted"  and  to 
"  comfort  all  that  mourn."  The  man  Christ 
Jesus  is  "  touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  in- 
firmities ;  he  knoweth  our  frame  ;  he  remem- 
bereth  that  we  are  dust."  The  Shepherd 
of  Israel  will  "  gather  the  lambs  in  his  arms, 
and  carry  them  in  his  bosom,  and  gently  lead 
those  that  are  with  young."  It  is  he  that 
"  giveth  power  to  the  faint ;  and  to  them  that 
have  no  might  he  increaseth  strength." 

Oh  behevers,  that  we  aU  might  learn  to 
fasten  our  affections,  to  rivet  our  hopes  on 
the  cross  of  Christ!  Here  is  our  comfort. 
We  must  tlihik  much  and  make  much  of  Christ. 
In  him  all  fulness  dwells.  He  is  the  Captain 
10 


218         GOOD    HOPE   TIIEOUGH   GRACE. 

of  jour  salvation.  He  is  a  fountain  for  your 
uncleanness,  and  a  light  for  jour  waj.  It  is 
lie  that  is  of  God  made  unto  his  people  wis- 
dom and  righteousness  and  sanctiiication  and 
complete  redemj)tion.  No  matter  how  great 
jour  guilt,  rest  on  him,  and  he  will  be  increas- 
inglj  preciou.s — precious  in  life,  precious  in 
death,  precious  for  ever.  "While  jour  "  Hfe  is 
hid  with  Christ  in  God,"  however  languid  the 
throb,  it  shall  never  expire. 

Come  then,  "lift  up  the  hands  that  hang 
down,  and  confirm  the  feeble  knees."  The 
heavens  and  the  earth  shall  sooner  crumble 
into  their  native  nothing,  than  the  feeblest 
lamb  of  the  Shepherd's  fold  stumble  and 
finallj  fall.  "Loose  thjself,"  therefore,  "fi'om 
the  bands  of  thj  neck,  O  captive  daughter 
of  Zion."  If  thou  hast  seasons  of  trial,  be 
not  alarmed ;  if  thou  hast  moments  of  de- 
spondencj  and  weakness,  be  not  dismajed. 
"  Fear  not,  thou  w^orm  Jacob,  for  thou  shalt 
thrash  the  mountains  and  beat  them  small. 
Thj  Kedeemer  is  the  Holj  One  of  IsraeL 
He  will  strengthen  thee ;  jea,  he  will  help 
thee ;  jea,  he  will  uphold  thee  bj  the  right 
hand  of  his  righteousness."     Saj,  is  it  not 


CONCLUSION.  219 

enougli  ?  "  Thanks  be  imto  God  for  liis  un- 
speakable gift." 

I  close  then  by  beseecliing  tlie  reader  to 
devote  himself  unreservedly  to  the  Lord. 
"What,  know  y6  not  that  ye  are  not  your 
own  ?  for  ye  are  bought  with  a  price  ;  where- 
fore glorify  God  in  your  body  and  your  spir- 
it, which  are  his."  "Eender  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's."  What  liigher  delight, 
what  greater  privilege  can  you  enjoy,  than  to 
consecrate  all  that  you  are  and  all  that  you 
possess  to  God?  Come  then  and  make  a 
voluntary  surrender  of  every  thing  to  him,  and 
choose  his  service  as  your  highest  delight. 

Henceforth  let  it  be  your  greatest  care  to 
honor  the  Lord  who  has  bought  you.  "As 
you  have  received  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  so 
walk  in  him,  rooted  and  built  up  in  him,  and 
estabKshed  in  the  faith,  as  you  have  been 
taught,  abounding  therein  with  thanksgiv- 
ing." Yes,  blessed  Eedeemer.  "  Other  lords 
besides  thee  have  had  dominion  over  us  ;  but 
by  thee  only  will  we  make  mention  of  thy 
name."  O  thou  eternal,  incarnate  God,  I  am 
thine,  doubly  thine,  wholly  thine — thine  for 
ever.     Amen. 


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